| Display parents | 2 |
|---|---|
| Taxon | Funisciurus |
| Authority | Trouessart, 1880 |
| Type species | Sciurus isabella |
| Type species authority | J. E. Gray, 1862 |
| Subdivision ranks | Species |
| Subdivision |
African striped squirrels (genus Funisciurus), or rope squirrels, form a taxon of squirrels under the subfamily Xerinae and the tribe Protoxerini.[1] They are only found in western and central Africa.
There are ten species in the genus:
- Thomas's rope squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus)
- Lunda rope squirrel (Funisciurus bayonii)
- Carruther's mountain squirrel (Funisciurus carruthersi)
- Congo rope squirrel (Funisciurus congicus)
- Du Chaillu's rope squirrel (Funisciurus duchaillui)
- Lady Burton's rope squirrel (Funisciurus isabella)
- Ribboned rope squirrel (Funisciurus lemniscatus)
- Red-cheeked rope squirrel (Funisciurus leucogenys)
- Fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus)
- Kintampo rope squirrel (Funisciurus substriatus)
Zoonoses
African striped squirrels have been implicated in the spread of human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[citation needed] African striped squirrels were found to be a source of monkeypox in a 2003 Midwestern monkeypox outbreak.
References
- Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th ed. Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1277–1279.
- "Complete list of squirrels by common name and species name". squirrels.org. 1993. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06.