Funisciurus leucogenys (Waterhouse, 1842)

Denys, Christiane, Missoup, Alain Didier, Nicolas, Violaine, Fülling, Olaf, Delapré, Arnaud, Bilong, Charles Felix Bilong, Taylor, Peter John J. & Hutterer, Rainer, 2014, African highlands as mammal diversity hotspots: new records of Lamottemys okuensis Petter, 1986 (Rodentia: Muridae) and other endemic rodents from Mt Oku, Cameroon, Zoosystema 36 (3), pp. 647-690 : 677

Funisciurus leucogenys (Waterhouse, 1842)

Sciurus leucogenys Waterhouse, 1842: 202 .

Funisciurus leucogenys – Trouessart 1880: 293.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Equatorial Guinea, Bioko.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — MNHN: CAM 174.

Morphological characters

The Red-cheeked Rope Squirrel is easily recognizable by its colored muzzle, the back head contrasting sharply with the front and being dark brown, the lateral thin cream-colored line continued by little spots. The tail has no rings; it is black above with scattered white hairs, and below it is orange in the midlle. Contrary to F. pyrrhopus F. Cuvier, 1833 , which has a yellow-white belly, F.leucogenys has an orange one. Eisentraut (1968, 1973) highlighted the presence of this squirrel in the Rumpi Hills at around 1100 m, on Mt Kupe, Mt Cameroon (Lager VI and III) and in Bamenda; but these specimens are slightly smaller than ours. The upper incisors are orange. There is a P3/.Our specimen was brought to us by local guides. Its external measurements fit within the size range of F.leucogenys according to Rosevear (1969) ( Table 12).