Bangs's mountain squirrel (''Syntheosciurus brochus'') is a poorly known species of tree squirrel, that only lives in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. It can be found in mountain rain forests at an altitude between , and lives mainly in the tree tops, but sometimes on the forest floor as well. One of its habitats is at the summit of the

Poás Volcano The Poás Volcano, ( es, Volcán Poás), is an active stratovolcano in central Costa Rica and is located within Poas Volcano National Park. It has erupted 40 times since 1828, including April 2017 when visitors and residents were evacuated. T ...

in Costa Rica, in a

Clusia ''Clusia'' is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the tropics of the Americas. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius. The closest relatives of ''Clus ...

forest that is almost inaccessible to humans.

Description

The squirrel's head and body measure , with a tail. It has an olive brown back and an orange-red belly. Because of the shape of its skull and teeth, the species has been separated from the genus of typical tree squirrels, ''

Sciurus The genus ''Sciurus'' contains most of the common, bushy-tailed squirrels in North America, Europe, temperate Asia, Central America and South America. Species The number of species in the genus is subject to change. In 2005, Thorington & Hoffma ...

'', into its own (monotypical) genus ''Syntheosciurus''.

Recent discovery

Until the 1980s, only four animals of this species were known. Since then, the species has been studied more in depth, especially by the zoologists N.M.Wells and J.Giacalone, who write that these mountain squirrels are sociable creatures. These squirrels live in pairs, together with their young, in a tree nest at a height of .

References

* * Ronald M. Nowak: ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 * Robert K. Enders: ''Observations on Syntheosciurus: taxonomy and behavior''. Journal of Mammalogy 1980, Bd. 61, S. 725-727 * J. Giacalone, N.M. Wells, G. Willis: ''Observations on Syntheosciurus brochus (Sciuridae) in Volcán Poás National Park''. Journal of Mammalogy 1987, Bd. 68, S. 145-147 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1547417 Tree squirrels Rodents of Central America Taxa named by Outram Bangs