Squirrel galago

The squirrel galagos are a group of four species of strepsirrhine primates. They are classified in the genus Sciurocheirus of the family Galagidae.^[1]

Sciurocheirus
Bioko Allen's bushbaby (S. alleni)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	Galagidae
Genus:	Sciurocheirus J. E. Gray, 1872
Type species
Galago alleni Waterhouse, 1838
Species
Sciurocheirus alleni Sciurocheirus gabonensis Sciurocheirus makandensis

Originally a single species was described, Galago alleni, by Waterhouse (1838), and the species was placed in a separate genus, Sciurocheirus by Gray in 1863.^[2] While some listings still included them in Galago,^[3] the species was split into three taxa, alleni, cameronensis, and gabonensis by Eisentraut (1973) and Groves (1989)^[4] which were then later elevated to species status by Groves (2001) as S. alleni, S. cameronensis, and S. gabonensis and followed by Groves (2005) and Nekaris (2013).^[3][2] The IUCN and American Society of Mammalogists both list S. cameronensis as a subspecies of S. alleni (as listed below). In 2013, another species, S. makandensis was described.^[5][6]

Genus Sciurocheirus – Gray, 1872 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Bioko Allen's bushbaby	S. alleni (Waterhouse, 1838) Two subspecies S. a. alleni (Bioko Allen's bushbaby) S. a. cameronensis (Cross River bushbaby)	Western equatorial Africa	Size: 15–24 cm (6–9 in) long, plus 20–30 cm (8–12 in) tail[7] Habitat: Forest[8] Diet: Fruit, as well as insects and small mammals[9]	NT  Unknown [8]
Gabon bushbaby	S. gabonensis (Gray, 1863)	Western equatorial Africa	Size: 18–21 cm (7–8 in) long, plus 23–28 cm (9–11 in) tail[6] Habitat: Forest[10] Diet: Arthropods, insects, fruit, and gum[11]	LC  Unknown [10]
Makandé squirrel galago	S. makandensis Ambrose, 2013	Gabon in western equatorial Africa	Size: Unknown[6] Habitat: Forest[12] Diet: Unknown[6]	DD  Unknown [12]

References

1. Masters, J.C.; Génin, F.; Couette, S.; Groves, C.P.; Nash, S.D.; Delpero, M.; Pozzi, L. (2017). "A new genus for the eastern dwarf galagos (Primates: Galagidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 181 (1): 229–241. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlw028. hdl:2318/1618044.
2. Nekaris, Anna (2013). "Family Galagidae: Galagos". In Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Wilson, Don E. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 3. Primates. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 184–284. ISBN 978-84-96553-89-7.
3. Groves, C. P. (2005). "Genus Galago". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
4. Grubb, Peter; Butynski, Thomas M.; Oates, John F.; Bearder, Simon K.; Disotell, Todd R.; Groves, Colin P.; Struhsaker, Thomas T. (2003). "Assessment of the diversity of African primates". International Journal of Primatology. 24 (6): 1301–1357. doi:10.1023/B:IJOP.0000005994.86792.b9. S2CID 24110272.
5. Kingdon et al., p. 3763
6. Stuart; Stuart, p. 1112
7. Kingdon, ch. Galagos
8. Perkin, A.; Butynski, T. M.; Cronin, D. T.; Masters, J.; Oates, J. F.; Pimley, E. (2020). "Sciurocheirus alleni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T8785A95509640. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T8785A95509640.en.
9. Dengel, Anna (2004). "Galago alleni". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
10. Oates, J. F. (2019). "Sciurocheirus gabonensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T136214A17961659. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T136214A17961659.en.
11. Fitterer, Carolynn (2009). "Galago gabonensis". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
12. Svensson, M.; Ambrose, L.; Bearder, S. (2020). "Sciurocheirus makandensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T91979463A91979703. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T91979463A91979703.en.

Sources

• Kingdon, Jonathan (2020). The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-8320-6.
• Kingdon, Jonathan; Happold, David; Butynski, Thomas; Hoffmann, Michael; Happold, Meredith; Kalina, Jan, eds. (2013). Mammals of Africa. Vol. 2. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4081-8996-2.
• Stuart, Chris; Stuart, Mathilde (2017). Stuarts' Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa (4th ed.). Penguin Random House South Africa. ISBN 978-1-77584-276-7.