It is hard to guess what a Forest giant squirrel weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Forest giant squirrel (Protoxerus stangeri) on average weights 630 grams (1.39 lbs).
The Forest giant squirrel is from the family Sciuridae (genus: Protoxerus). They can live for up to 5.08 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 29.1 cm (1′ 0″). Usually, Forest giant squirrels have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The forest giant squirrel (Protoxerus stangeri) or Stanger’s squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and plantations.
Animals of the same family as a Forest giant squirrel
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Red-legged sun squirrel with a weight of 333 grams
- European ground squirrel with a weight of 396 grams
- Prevost’s squirrel with a weight of 400 grams
- Particolored flying squirrel with a weight of 255 grams
- Red giant flying squirrel bringing 1.54 kilos (3.4 lbs) to the scale
- Central American dwarf squirrel with a weight of 87 grams
- Jentink’s flying squirrel with a weight of 56 grams
- Yellow-pine chipmunk with a weight of 50 grams
- Deppe’s squirrel with a weight of 250 grams
- Asian red-cheeked squirrel with a weight of 201 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Forest giant squirrel
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Protoxerus stangeri:
- Guianan squirrel monkey bringing 750 grams to the scale
- Marbled polecat bringing 594 grams to the scale
- Central American squirrel monkey bringing 714 grams to the scale
- Rakali bringing 626 grams to the scale
- Greater bandicoot rat bringing 583 grams to the scale
- Bismarck giant rat bringing 612 grams to the scale
- Moustached tamarin bringing 557 grams to the scale
- Kashmir flying squirrel bringing 510 grams to the scale
- Amazon bamboo rat bringing 650 grams to the scale
- White-faced spiny tree-rat bringing 610 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Forest giant squirrel
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Forest giant squirrel:
- Clara’s echymipera with a size of 34.1 cm (1′ 2″)
- Potto with a size of 32 cm (1′ 1″)
- Great Key Island giant rat with a size of 27.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Moluccan flying fox with a size of 25.3 cm (0′ 10″)
- White-footed tamarin with a size of 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Bougainville monkey-faced bat with a size of 26.2 cm (0′ 11″)
- Red-legged sun squirrel with a size of 23.8 cm (0′ 10″)
- Painted ringtail possum with a size of 26.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Pygmy rabbit with a size of 26.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Black-shouldered opossum with a size of 23.4 cm (0′ 10″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Forest giant squirrel
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Forest giant squirrel:
- Dorcas gazelle
- Mount Kenya mole shrew
- Weddell seal
- Lesser false vampire bat
- Northeast African mole-rat
- Black-capped squirrel monkey
- Macleay’s dorcopsis
- Western long-beaked echidna
- Striped bandicoot
- Potto
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Forest giant squirrel
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Forest giant squirrel:
- Southeastern myotis with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Bank vole with an average maximal age of 4.83 years
- European water vole with an average maximal age of 5 years
- San Joaquin antelope squirrel with an average maximal age of 5.5 years
- Otter civet with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Lesser mole-rat with an average maximal age of 4.5 years
- Lesser Egyptian jerboa with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Stripe-faced dunnart with an average maximal age of 4.83 years
- California ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Spinifex hopping mouse with an average maximal age of 5.17 years