• Gambian Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus gambianus)

  • Red-legged Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus rufobrachium)

  • Ruwenzori Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus ruwenzorii)

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 Sciurus after the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature decided to suppress the use of the Sciurus annulatus for this purpose in 1957. The species was later reallocated to the genus Heliosciurus. 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). 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 is boldly ringed in black and white, there being about fourteen rings.

The Gambian sun squirrel occurs across tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and the Gambia, to Ethiopia and Kenya. A separate population is further south in Angola and Tanzania. It inhabits wooded savanna and other grassland with scattered trees, moving through the branches but sometimes descending to the ground. It also inhabits plantations and other cultivated areas.

The Gambian sun squirrel is a common grassland species with a wide range and a presumed large total population. The population trend has not been evaluated but no particular threats have been recognised; it is able to adapt to habitats modified by humans and is present in a number of protected areas. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

These images are of an individual spotted in Lake Langano, Ethiopia.

The Red-legged Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus rufobrachium) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae, also commonly known as the isabelline red-legged sun squirrel. It is native to tropical western and central Africa where its range extends from Senegal in the west, through Nigeria and the Republic of Congo to Uganda and Tanzania in the east. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna. This species is thought to be common and has a very wide distribution, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

The red-legged sun squirrel is a medium-sized squirrel, with an average head-body length of 24 centimetres (9.4 in) and an average weight of 353 grams (12.5 oz); males are slightly larger than females. They have large eyes, small rounded ears, and a tail about the same length as the head and body combined. The fur is dark brown to grey across the body, but reddish on the limbs and muzzle and black on the tail. Females have two teats on the chest, and another four much further back on the body on the rear part of the abdomen. The brain is slightly smaller than expected, compared with other African squirrels of similar size.

The red-legged sun squirrel is found across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Gambia in the west to Kenya in the east but not south of the Congo River. It is found in habitats with large trees in which it can climb, in moist primary and secondary forests, plantations, isolated trees in savannahs and gardens. It has been reported from mangrove swamps (Avicennia spp.) in Sierra Leone.

These images were taken of individuals in Dzanga Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic.

The Ruwenzori Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus ruwenzorii) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and arable land. These images were snapped in the Ruwenzori Mountains in Uganda.