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Abstract: Sciurillus pusillus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) is a sciurid commonly called the Neotropical pygmy squirrel. S. pusillus is an exceptionally small species of tree squirrel that appears pale gray due to a grizzled pattern of light hair tips on the dorsal pelage. Ranging from Amazonian Peru and Brazil northeast to the Guianas with a patchy distribution, S. pusillus is a denizen of the upper canopy of lowland rain forest. This species is listed as ''Data Deficient'' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Key words: Brazil, French Guiana, lowland rain forest, Neotropics, Peru, pygmy squirrel, South America, Suriname
© 13 December 2013 American Society of Mammalogists
Synonymies completed 1 August 2013
DOI: 10.1644/903.1 w w w . m a m m a l o g y . o r g
Sciurillus Thomas, 1914
Sciurillus Thomas, 1914a:416. Type species Sciurus pusillus Desmarest, 1817, as designated by Thomas (¼ Sciurus pusillus ' E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803), by monotypy.
CONTEXT AND CONTENT. Order Rodentia, suborder Sciuromorpha, superfamily Sciuroidea, family Sciuridae, subfamily Sciurillinae. Sciurillus is monotypic.
Sciurillus pusillus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) Neotropical Pygmy Squirrel
Sciurus pusillus ' E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803:177. Type locality ''Cayenne,'' French Guiana.
[Sciurus] guianensis Goldfuss, 1809:122. Type locality ''Cayenne, French Guiana.''
Sc[iurus] pusillus Desmarest, 1817:109. Type locality ''from French Guiana;'' see ''Nomenclatural Notes.''
Sc[iurus] olivascens Olfers, 1818:208. Type locality ''Sudamerica.''
Macroxus pusillus Gray, 1867:433. Type locality ''Tropical America.''
Macroxus Kuhlii Gray, 1867:433. Type locality ''Brazil.''
Sciurus leucotis Gray, 1867:433. Type locality ''Brazil.''
Sciurus Kuhlii: Gray, 1867:433. Name combination.
Microsciurus pusillus Allen, 1914:155. Type locality ''Cayenne;'' see ''Nomenclatural Notes.''
Microsciurus kuhlii Allen, 1914:162. Type locality ''Brazil (Castelnau);'' see ''Nomenclatural Notes.''
Sciurillus pusillus: Thomas, 1914a:415. First use of current name combination.
Sciurillus pusillus glaucinus Thomas, 1914b:575. Type locality ''Great Falls of Demerara River, British Guiana.''
Sciurillus pusillus hoehnei Miranda-Ribeiro, 1941:10. Type locality ''Rio Telles Piras (formerly Sao Manoel), northern Mato Grosso,'' Brazil.
CONTEXT AND CONTENT. Sciurillus pusillus has 3 subspecies (Anthony and Tate 1935; Hershkovitz 1959; Thorington and Hoffmann 2005):
S. p. glaucinus (Thomas, 1914b:575). See above (hoehnei Miranda-Ribeiro is a synonym).
S. p. kuhlii (Gray, 1867:433). See above.
S. p. pusillus (' E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803:177). See above.
NOMENCLATURAL NOTES. Buffon (1789) provided a description of a pygmy squirrel...