Heliosciurus mutabilis

Geographic Range

Heliosciurus mutabilis (mutable sun squirrel) can be found in East Africa in the Ethiopian region. Its range extends south from Tanzania to southern Mozambique and west toward the Chimanimani Highlands of Zimbabwe, south-central Zambia and Malawi.

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian ethiopian
  • native native

Habitat

Mutable sun squirrels can be found in a variety of habitats, including lowland evergreen forests, thickets and riverine forests of the Brachystegia / Julbernardia woodland association and moist savanna and grasslands. When looking for suitable nest sites, mutable sun squirrels seek out holes in trees or dense clumps of vines.

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland
• forest forest
• scrub forest scrub forest

Physical Description

Mutable sun squirrels are among the largest squirrels in their range. They have agouti-banded hairs in their pelage. The number of bands differ from one part of the body to another. Body hairs have two light bands and three dark bands, including the base of the hair shaft and the tip. Tail hairs have three to 12 bands and end always with a dark tip. Pelt coloration changes between molts. In young mutable sun squirrels, the dark hair bands are blackish brown and the light hair bands are whitish ochre. The dark bands fade with age, lightening to a brownish maroon. Eventually, both the dark and light bands become a light reddish ochre hue and are difficult to tell apart. This change in pelt color reflects the origin of the name: mutable sun squirrels lay out in the sun, which results in the changing of the hair color.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

Reproduction

There is little available information on reproduction in mutable sun squirrels. However, in Heliosciurus rufobrachium , males and females are often found in pairs, suggesting the possibility that stable mating pairs are established.

Reproduction in mutable sun squirrels has not been well studied. In eastern Zimbabwe, a pregnant female was found carrying 4 young in August. In western Africa, other Heliosciurus species have two breeding seasons.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

There is little available information on parental investment in mutable sun squirrels. However, as in most mammals, females are likely to take on the majority of investment in the young.

• Parental Investment
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

There is little available information on longevity in mutable sun squirrels. However, an individual Heliosciurus gambianus was reported to have lived almost 9 years.

Behavior

Mutable sun squirrels can be found in pairs or alone. They are social and diurnal. Mutable sun squirrels are most active during the morning and evening hours. They spend the hottest part of the day sunning themselves on tree limbs. The name "sun squirrel" comes from this behavior. Mutable sun squirrels are an arboreal species specialized for climbing trees. However, they can also be found foraging for seeds, nuts, and insects on the ground.

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal arboreal
• scansorial
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• solitary solitary
• social social

Home Range

There is little available information on home range in mutable sun squirrels.

Communication and Perception

Mutable sun squirrels have a variety of vocalizations for communication. An alarm bark is used when trying to alert others to danger. A defensive growl is used to send a message to another to back off or beware. When making contact with other squirrels or family members, a bird-like sound is made.

• Communication Channels
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Mutable sun squirrels are omnivorous. Their diet includes seeds, nuts, Kigelia fruits, and ivy leaves. When available, they also eat insects and bird eggs and, possibly, young vertebrates.

• Primary Diet
• omnivore omnivore

• Animal Foods
• eggs
• insects

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• fruit

• Foraging Behavior
• stores or caches food stores or caches food

Predation

Mutable sun squirrels are preyed upon by many, larger carnivorous species, including birds of prey and mammals. Genets , palm civets , and snakes have been noted as predators of other Heliosciurus species. When alarmed or surprised, they run to the opposite side of a tree, climb to a branch, and lay flat to avoid being seen. They also run to the tops of trees and sound an alarm call to alert others around them. Their coloration allows them to blend in with their surroundings.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

There is little available information on the roles mutable sun squirrels play in their ecosystems. However, as predators of seeds and fruits, they may influence the recruitment of tree and shrub species in the areas they inhabit.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

There is little available information on the benefits mutable sun squirrels provide to humans.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Mutable sun squirrels are not thought to adversely affect humans.

Conservation Status

Mutable sun squirrels are listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List. They do not suffer from loss of habitat by deforestation to make way for farmland.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Britney Frei (author), University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Christopher Yahnke (editor), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Shaina Stewart (editor), University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

References

Grubb, P., J. Kerbis Peterhans. 2008. "Heliosciurus mutabilis" (On-line). Accessed August 16, 2013 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/9831/0 .

Grubb, P. 1982. "Systematics of sun-squirrels (Heliosciurus) in eastern Africa" (On-line). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge. Accessed August 07, 2013 at http://zfmk.de/BZB/1982/1982%20Grubb%20P.%20p191%20orginal.pdf .

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World . United States of America: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Accessed August 17, 2013 at http://books.google.com/books?id=7W-DGRILSBoC&pg=PA1281&dq=Heliosciurus+gambianus&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jN4PUv_jE4OGyQHCyIEw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Heliosciurus%20gambianus&f=false .

Thorington, R., J. Koprowski, M. Steele, J. Whatton. 2012. Squirrels of the World . Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.