Epixerus ebii (Temminck, 1853)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6819071 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FFB4-ED49-FF6B-FBFDFDD8FDAF |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Epixerus ebii |
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Western Palm Squirrel
French: Ecureuil ébien / German: Afrika-Palmenhdrnchen / Spanish: Ardilla de palma occidental
Other common names: African Palm Squirrel, Ebian’s Palm Squirrel, Palm Squirrel, Temminck’'s Giant Squirrel
Taxonomy. Sciurus ebii Temminck, 1853 ,
Ghana.
Three subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
E.e.ebiiTemminck,1853—IvoryCoastandGhana.
E.e.jones:Hayman,1954—SierraLeoneandLiberiaintoextremeSGuinea.
E. e. wilson: Du Chaillu, 1860 — SW Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, W Gabon, and NW Republic of the Congo.
Descriptive notes. Head-body mean 288-3 mm (males) and 278-3 mm (females), tail mean 277 mm (males) and 284-3 mm (females); weight mean 652 g (males) and 388 g (females). The Western Palm Squirrel is long, lean, and mid-sized;it has dull red dorsal pelage, grizzled with yellow and black on sides. Ventral pelage is paler, with white near chest. Chevron-shaped banding of red, black, and gray on underside of long thick gray-tipped tail is the most striking feature. Ears are nearly hairless. Nominate ebii has rufous head and brown, not red, dorsum relative to jones: and wilson.
Habitat. Evergreen raffia palm (Raphia, Arecaceae) infused rainforest but also semideciduous and montane forests to elevations of ¢.1000 m.
Food and Feeding. Western Palm Squirrels are primarily herbivores, with strong preference for granivory. They frequently forage on the ground to collect thickly shelled nuts, such as Panda oleosa (Pandaceae) and then climb to a low perch to gnaw through the hull or split shells. Seeds are sometimes stored in midden piles below favored perches. Insects are also eaten when discovered during foraging activities.
Breeding. Onelitter of Western Palm Squirrels had two nestlings.
Activity patterns. The Western Palm Squirrel is diurnal. Individuals leave tree hollow nests at sunrise and return in the afternoon after intensive foraging in understories. It is highly wary while foraging and frequentlyjumps to low branches to look for predators.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Western Palm Squirrel is solitary and moves warily through dense understories. Home ranges are large; a subadult female occupied 13-9 ha, and two males used an average of 21:6 ha. When mildly alarmed, it emits staccato calls by quietly tooth chattering. If more seriously alarmed, it broadcasts high-pitched, broad-frequency calls.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. No information is available on population trends of the Western Palm Squirrel. Logging and other habitat degrading activities such as land conversion to agriculture may be threats.
Bibliography. Du Chaillu (1860), Emmons (1975, 1978, 1980, 2013a), Grubb et al. (1998), Hoke et al. (2007), Kuhn (1964), Thorington et al. (2012).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
