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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Black and Red Bush Squirrel

Paraxerus lucifer (Thomas, 1897)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Funisciurus lucifer = Paraxerus lucifer

Funisciurus lucifer = Paraxerus lucifer

Joseph Smit · Public domain · Image source

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Open encyclopedia reference

The black and red bush squirrel (Paraxerus lucifer) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae occurring in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. In Malawi, it is found in Misuku Hills and Nyika Plateau and in Tanzania Poroto Mountains and Mount Rungwe; it has not been found in Zambia where it was expected to occur in Mafinga Hills and Makutu Mountains. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It may be threatened by habitat loss.

Wikipedia contributors, Black and red bush squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:19:01.208166+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Paraxerus lucifer (Thomas, 1897)
Name authority
(Thomas, 1897)
Common name
Black and Red Bush Squirrel
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Paraxerus
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
  12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  14. subfamilyXerinae Osborn, 1910
  15. tribeProtoxerini Moore, 1959
  16. genusParaxerus Forsyth Major, 1893
  17. speciesParaxerus lucifer (Thomas, 1897)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Paraxerus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Smith's Bush SquirrelParaxerus cepapi (A. Smith, 1836)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Striped Bush SquirrelParaxerus flavovittis (Peters, 1852)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Ochre Bush SquirrelParaxerus ochraceus (Huet, 1880)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Red Bush SquirrelParaxerus palliatus (Peters, 1852)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Green Bush SquirrelParaxerus poensis (A. Smith, 1830)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Alexander's Bush SquirrelParaxerus alexandri (Thomas & Wroughton, 1907)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Boehm's Bush SquirrelParaxerus boehmi (Reichenow, 1886)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Cooper's Mountain SquirrelParaxerus cooperi Hayman, 1950SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Svynnerton's Bush SquirrelParaxerus vexillarius (Kershaw, 1923)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Vincent's Bush SquirrelParaxerus vincenti Hayman, 1950SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 219 records assigned to Sciuridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Africa

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632398 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4DJ3N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.