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Heliosciurus gambianus multicolor
Dark brown-grey animal with cream colored underparts (chest, neck and belly); with a long barred tail. Approx 22 to 25 length for the body, and the same, if not a bit more, for the tail.
This subspecies is found mainly in eastern Africa, from north-east Congo DR, up to forested regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. This one was seen in forested area between the town of Awassa, and lake Awassa. The forest is swampy and very rich in wildlife, in particular birds as it is one of stops on the main migratory routes.
This subspecies is currently treated as separate species, with three subspecies, by some authors; and it would be named "The Cepape" - it can also be found under the scientific synonyms H. multicolor or Sciurus multicolor. It was finally identified thanks to this photo, https://www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling....
Thanks Machi and Injica for your comments and ID suggestion. Indeed it looks like the subspecies of Gambian.
Not 100% sure about that ID, but it looks just like this photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling...
1st I thought it could be a dassie rat (Petromuridae) but the habitat definitely does not fit- they like arid locations, and its tail is too thick anyway. This is a mystery indeed, I also don't think is any Herpestidae...it has to be a rodent but I don't know any that looks like this one.