How many baby African pygmy squirrels are in a litter?
A African pygmy squirrel (Myosciurus pumilio) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 3 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 3 cm (0′ 2″). They are a member of the Sciuridae family (genus: Myosciurus). An adult African pygmy squirrel grows up to a size of 6.9 cm (0′ 3″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The African pygmy squirrel (Myosciurus pumilio) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is monotypic within the genus Myosciurus. It is found in tropical rainforests in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is not considered threatened, but likely declines locally due to habitat loss. Together with the least pygmy squirrel of Asia, the African pygmy squirrel is the world’s smallest squirrel measuring about 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in total length and just 15–18 g (0.53–0.63 oz) in weight, which is less than a typical house mouse.
Other animals of the family Sciuridae
African pygmy squirrel is a member of the Sciuridae, as are these animals:
- Siskiyou chipmunk weighting only 75 grams
- Wyoming ground squirrel with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Nilgiri striped squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Small sun squirrel weighting only 174 grams
- Red-tailed chipmunk with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Southern flying squirrel with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Olympic marmot with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Round-tailed ground squirrel with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Menzbier’s marmot with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Gray-cheeked flying squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with African pygmy squirrel
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Servaline genet
- Koslov’s pika
- Atlantic titi
- Australian sea lion
- Kelaart’s pipistrelle
- California mouse
- Bighorn sheep
- Homo sapiens
- Egyptian fruit bat
- Himalayan tahr
Animals with the same weight as a African pygmy squirrel
What other animals weight around 16 grams (0.04 lbs)?
- Pygmy fruit bat weighting 15 grams
- Handley’s tailless bat weighting 17 grams
- Himalayan shrew weighting 14 grams
- Ghost-faced bat weighting 16 grams
- Gerbil leaf-eared mouse weighting 17 grams
- Velvety free-tailed bat weighting 13 grams
- House mouse weighting 19 grams
- Silky short-tailed bat weighting 14 grams
- Seba’s short-tailed bat weighting 19 grams
- Lesser short-tailed gerbil weighting 17 grams
Animals with the same size as a African pygmy squirrel
Also reaching around 6.9 cm (0′ 3″) in size do these animals:
- Pallas’s pika gets as big as 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Eastern harvest mouse gets as big as 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Woodford’s fruit bat gets as big as 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Greater broad-nosed bat gets as big as 8.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Great Basin pocket mouse gets as big as 8.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Slender harvest mouse gets as big as 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Antillean fruit-eating bat gets as big as 8.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- North American least shrew gets as big as 6.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Common noctule gets as big as 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Natal multimammate mouse gets as big as 6 cm (0′ 3″)