Heliosciurus gambianus
Silhouette: Joseph Smit · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The Gambian sun squirrel (Heliosciurus gambianus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is wooded savanna.
The Gambian sun squirrel was first described by the Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1835 as Sciurus gambianus. It was designated the type species of the genus Heliosciurus after the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature decided to suppress the use of Sciurus annulatus for this purpose in 1957. It is probably a species complex of several described species.
The Gambian sun squirrel has a head-and-body length of between 170 and 240 mm (6.7 and 9.4 in) and a tail of between 180 and 260 mm (7.1 and 10.2 in). Its weight ranges from 240 to 330 g (8.5 to 11.6 oz). The pelage is variably coloured but is usually greyish with a grizzled appearance. There is a paler grey ring around the eye, and the throat and underparts are also pale. The tail... Wikipedia →
Call0:24
Ivory Coast · 2026
© Étienne Leroy · XC1080081 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:27
Congo - Kinshasa · 2019
© Mathias D'haen · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:14
Chad · 2023
© congonaturalist · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso |
No species of the same family or order lives in Serrekunda, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Gambian Sun Squirrel sighting in Serrekunda on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Gambian Sun Squirrel in Serrekunda on a given day, against about 10% in May–June and September, the lowest months. That is one of Serrekunda's driest months, with almost no rain against 290 mm in August. July and August have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gambian Sun Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Gambian Sun Squirrel sightings, Serrekunda has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gambian Sun Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Serrekunda (17 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
