How many baby Gambian sun squirrels are in a litter?
A Gambian sun squirrel (Heliosciurus gambianus) usually gives birth to around 2 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 7 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 3.4 cm (0′ 2″). They are a member of the Sciuridae family (genus: Heliosciurus). An adult Gambian sun squirrel grows up to a size of 19.6 cm (0′ 8″).
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 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.
Other animals of the family Sciuridae
Gambian sun squirrel is a member of the Sciuridae, as are these animals:
- Berdmore’s ground squirrel becoming 4.25 years old
- Spermophilus relictus with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Tarbagan marmot with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Arctic ground squirrel with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Buller’s chipmunk with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Woolly flying squirrel raching a size of 45.9 cm (1′ 7″)
- Mutable sun squirrel weighting only 390 grams
- Collie’s squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Congo rope squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Red-cheeked ground squirrel with 7 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Gambian sun squirrel
Those animals also give birth to 2 babies at once:
- Cacomistle
- California kangaroo rat
- Volcano rabbit
- Mountain ground squirrel
- Golden palm civet
- Crested servaline genet
- Black-headed marmoset
- Western barred bandicoot
- Merriam’s kangaroo rat
- African marsh rat
Animals with the same weight as a Gambian sun squirrel
What other animals weight around 248 grams (0.55 lbs)?
- Indochinese flying squirrel weighting 227 grams
- Shiny guinea pig weighting 283 grams
- Fire-footed rope squirrel weighting 243 grams
- Brandt’s hedgehog weighting 213 grams
- Common degu weighting 203 grams
- Emily’s tuco-tuco weighting 285 grams
- Four-toed elephant shrew weighting 201 grams
- Lundomys weighting 238 grams
- Black-striped squirrel weighting 209 grams
- O’Connell’s spiny rat weighting 284 grams
Animals with the same size as a Gambian sun squirrel
Also reaching around 19.6 cm (0′ 8″) in size do these animals:
- Ornate flying fox gets as big as 18.3 cm (0′ 8″)
- Dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel gets as big as 19.6 cm (0′ 8″)
- Palawan montane squirrel gets as big as 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Whiskered flying squirrel gets as big as 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Northern quoll gets as big as 21.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- Nicobar flying fox gets as big as 16.9 cm (0′ 7″)
- Guyenne spiny rat gets as big as 22 cm (0′ 9″)
- Lesser small-toothed rat gets as big as 15.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Ladak pika gets as big as 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Northern pika gets as big as 16 cm (0′ 7″)