Slender-tailed squirrel

The slender-tailed squirrel (Protoxerus aubinnii) is a large tree squirrel of the rodent family Sciuridae that lives in the lowland rainforests of West Africa, in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It keeps to the lower canopy and the dense shrub layer of moist tropical forest, including swamps of raffia palm. Adults measure roughly 240 to 255 millimetres from head to body, with a tail of about 300 to 305 millimetres, and weigh about 415 to 525 grams. The back is dark brown washed with yellow or buff, and the long, full black tail is frosted with yellow or buff toward the tip. It feeds on the husks of raffia palms and appears to be highly herbivorous. Two subspecies are recognised. Its status is poorly known, and extensive logging in the forests of Upper Guinea may cause habitat loss.