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Paraxerus (African Bush Squirrel)

Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae

Taxonomy
Paraxerus was named by Forsyth Major (1893). It is extant.

It was assigned to Sciuridae by Pickford and Senut (1997); and to Protoxerini by Mercer and Roth (2003).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1893Paraxerus Forsyth Major p. 189
1997Paraxerus Pickford and Senut p. 201
2003Paraxerus Mercer and Roth

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
RankNameAuthor
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
—Theriiformes()
—Trechnotheria
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—EuarchontogliresMurphy et al. 2001
—GliriformesWyss and Meng 1996
—Glires()
—Simplicidentata()
orderRodentiaBowdich 1821
superfamilySciuroidea
familySciuridae
tribeProtoxerini
genusParaxerusForsyth Major 1893

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Paraxerus Forsyth Major 1893 [African Bush Squirrel]
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Paraxerus palliatus Peters 1852 [red bush squirrel]
Paraxerus palliatus sponsus Thomas and Wroughton 1907
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialsubc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: arborealg
Diet: granivoref
Diet 2: frugivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2012-05-15 12:48:49
Modified: 2012-05-14 21:48:49
Source: g = genus, f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Carroll 1988, Nowak 1991, Ji et al. 2002, Hendy et al. 2009, Samuels and Van Valkenburgh 2008, Lillegraven 1979

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Pliocene to the top of the Holocene or 5.33300 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 3.6 Ma

Collections (11 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Tortonian - Zanclean11.62 - 3.6Ethiopia Paraxerus sp. (22139)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Tanzania (Eastern Drift Valley) Paraxerus sp. (32050)
Late/Upper Pliocene - Piacenzian3.6 - 2.588Ethiopia Paraxerus ochraceus (21546)
Piacenzian3.6 - 2.588Tanzania Paraxerus sp. (21796 21811)
Gelasian2.588 - 1.806Ethiopia Paraxerus ochraceus (21545 21632)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129South Africa (Namaqualand) Paraxerus inuus (51188)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Zambia Paraxerus cepapi (21894)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Congo-Kinshasa Paraxerus sp. (22073)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0South Africa (N. Transraal) Paraxerus cepapi (21693)