Anomalurus derbianus ( Gray, 1842 )

Denys, Christiane, Missoup, Alain Didier, Nicolas, Violaine, Sylla, Morlaye, Douno, Mory, Kadjo, Blaise, Lalis, Aude & Monadjem, Ara, 2025, Annotated checklist of rodents from a biodiversity hotspot, Mount Nimba (West Africa), Zoosystema 47 (27), pp. 617-689 : 657

Anomalurus derbianus ( Gray, 1842)

Pteromys derbianus Gray, 1842: 262 .

REMARKS

No record of this species was obtained by Lamotte and collaborators on the Guinean side of the mountain. However, it was collected by Coe (1975) and Misonne & Verschuren (1976) on the Liberian side.

Anomalurus derbianus is a medium sized scaly-tailed flying squirrel which displays a grey more or less silvery dorsal pelage that fits well with the description of the A. derbianus holotype ( Appendix 7). Coe (1975) also described the specimens from Liberian Mount Nimba as pale uniform olive grey above and pale grey below. Another characteristic of this species concerns the length of the tail, which is shorter than HB ( Rosevear 1969). The specimen collected by Coe (1975) was small compared to other literature data ( Table 11 ). According to Rosevear (1969), anomalurid skulls are very homogeneous and only size can allow to distinguish between the species. For A. derbianus the GLS is over 50 mm. The skull is robust with a very wide triangular shape and bizygomatic width, a large CIO and a short nasal. There is a marked postorbital process situated at the back of the supraorbital ridge. The incisors are yellow and orthodont, the molar rows bear five jugal teeth (P3 to M3) and the palate is not extended past M3/. The tympanic bullae are long and slender and slightly inflated. The species displays high-crowned flat molars with roots hardly visible and a pentalophodont pattern.