The Anomaluridae are a family of rodents found in central Africa. They are known as anomalures or scaly-tailed squirrels. The six extant species are classified into two genera.
The flying mice, also known as the pygmy scaly-tails, pygmy scaly-tailed flying squirrels, or pygmy anomalures are not true mice, not true squirrels, and are not capable of true flight. These unusual rodents are essentially miniaturized versions of anomalures and are part of the same sub-Saharan African radiation of gliding mammal.
The term Hystricomorpha has had many definitions throughout its history. In the broadest sense, it refers to any rodent with a hystricomorphous zygomasseteric system. This includes the Hystricognathi, Ctenodactylidae, Anomaluridae, and Pedetidae. Molecular and morphological results suggest the inclusion of the Anomaluridae and Pedetidae in Hystricomorpha may be suspect. Based on Carleton & Musser 2005, these two families are discussed here as representing a distinct suborder Anomaluromorpha.
The servaline genet is a genet species native to Central Africa. As it is widely distributed and considered common, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Dollman's tree mouse is a poorly understood climbing mouse from central Africa. It is unique enough that it has been placed in a genus of its own, Prionomys, since its discovery in 1910.
The red-thighed sparrowhawk, alternatively known as the red-legged sparrowhawk or western little sparrowhawk, is a species of sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae from western and northern central Africa.
The forest swallow is a little-known species of swallow in the family Hirundinidae, found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. The species was previously placed in the genus Petrochelidon, within the ‘mud-nester’ clade of swallows, yet its plumage, morphology, and nesting behavior did not align well with those of other major swallow lineages. As a consequence, and also employing molecular phylogenetic approaches, De Silva et al. (2018) placed this species in the swallow phylogenetic tree, firmly within the ‘mud nester’ clade, but outside of the clade corresponding to Petrochelidon. This outcome led De Silva et al. (2018) to document and describe formally a distinct, generic-level lineage of swallow endemic to the Lower Guinean forest region of central Africa.
The compact weaver is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
Fraser's rufous thrush, also known as the rufous flycatcher-thrush, is a species of bird in the thrush family.
Zenker's honeyguide is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Uganda.
The dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Anomaluridae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Uganda. The species is nocturnal and arboreal and lives in subtropical or tropical lowland rainforest. Membranes attached to its limbs and tail enable it to glide between trees. This squirrel is currently not considered to be threatened by habitat destruction; "much of the habitat within parts of the known range of this species is relatively intact, and the species is unlikely to be experiencing any significant declines."
The Cameroon scaly-tail, also referred to as the Cameroon anomalure, flightless anomalure or flightless scaly-tail, is a rodent species endemic to West Central Africa. The scientific literature has never reported observations of live individuals. The taxonomic classification of the species has been subject to recent revision.
Zenker's fruit bat or Tear-drop bat is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and swamps.
Lord Derby's scaly-tailed squirrel is an anomalurid rodent native to Africa. It was named after Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.
Isolona zenkeri is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is found in Cameroon, The Republic of the Congo and Gabon. Adolf Engler, the German botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Georg August Zenker who collected the sample Engler examined. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Isalo serotine is a vesper bat of Madagascar in the genus Laephotis. It is known only from the vicinity of the Isalo National Park in the southwestern part of the island, where it has been caught in riverine habitats. After the first specimen was caught in 1967, it was described as a subspecies of Eptesicus somalicus in 1995. After four more specimens were collected in 2002 and 2003, it was recognized as a separate species. Because of its small distribution and the threat of habitat destruction, it is considered "vulnerable" in the IUCN Red List.
Cymothoe zenkeri, or Zenker's glider, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Uvariopsis zenkeri Engl. is a species of flowering shrub in the family Annonaceae endemic to Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
