Hi all,
a couple of question marks from a stay at a cabin (#8) at Los Quetzales Lodge, Guadeloupe, Chiriqui, western Panama in February this year.
The first is a mouse that was seen mid morning just outside the cabin. We did not see it again the remaining days.
The second is a question about the squirrels the same place – which are they? And related: are there any reliable images of the Mountain squirrel that is supposed to be found in Costa Rica and possibly in western Panama?
By the way: we had Cacomistle at the same location. We also (but much further east in Panama) saw a squirrel monkey that was all black – what is the status of that one?
Thanks
Niels
Hi Niels. Pretty sure it’s a Chiriqui Singing Mouse given the location and daylight (several people saw them at the same place including me).
It’s a red-tailed Squirrel. Montane Squirrels are around I believe but they look quite different I’m told.
No idea on the monkey. There isn’t a black squirrel monkey. It might be a melanistic form of Central American Squirrel Monkey? But I’ve never heard of melanism in those monkeys.
Jon
Sorry Jon,
I had a brain fart: black Spider Monkey, not squirrel monkey.
Niels
Entirely glossy black would be Black-headed Spider Monkey (Ateles fusciceps). Did you see it at ChucantÃ?
Thank you Venkat,
That is the species I have searched my way to since writing the above. The location was San Fransisco Private Reserve, eastern Panama Province, not too far from Torti.
Niels
Hi Niels,
I emailed Jackie Willis (the lead author of “Observations on Syntheosciurus brochus (Sciuridae) in Volcán Poás National Park, Costa Rica” in Journal of Mammalogy) after my trip to Cabanas Los Quetzales, and she shared this photo taken Greg Willis (the third author of that paper): (link)
Also, here’s a terrible photo of Bang’s Mountain Squirrel I took in at Cabanas Los Quetzales on what was my first trip to the tropics (before I got I nice camera): (link)
Note the short neck and tiny ears.
Best,
Ben
http://www.tremarctos.com
Ben, thank you for the info and for sharing the photo links!
Niels