Black and red bush squirrel

The black and red bush squirrel, Paraxerus lucifer, is a rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae that lives in the highlands of east-central Africa. It has been recorded in Malawi, in the Misuku Hills and on the Nyika Plateau, and in Tanzania, in the Poroto Mountains and on Mount Rungwe. It was expected to occur in the Mafinga Hills and Makutu Mountains of Zambia, but it has not been found there, so its known range is a small number of upland sites. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. The species may be threatened by habitat loss, which matters because it depends on a few isolated areas of upland vegetation.