Red-tailed squirrel

The red-tailed squirrel (Sciurus granatensis) is a species of tree squirrel found from southern Central America to northern South America. It occurs in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela, and on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad, Tobago and Margarita, from sea level up to about 3,000 metres, in many kinds of forest and even in picnic grounds. Its coat colour is extremely variable, so many former species and subspecies were named from within its range; 28 subspecies were recognised in 1961 and 32 by the early 2000s, and in 2015 these were reduced to six geographical subspecies. It was recently reclassified as Notosciurus granatensis, though the IUCN still places it in Sciurus. It is a common squirrel with a stable population and a vast range, and a small introduced population lives near Havana on Cuba.