Phataginus tricuspis

The tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) is one of eight extant species of pangolins ('scaly anteaters'), and is native to equatorial Africa. Also known as the white-bellied pangolin or three-cusped pangolin, it is the most common of the African forest pangolins. Phataginus tricuspis is a relatively small pangolin. The combined head and body length is 33–43 cm (13–17 in). The tail is 49–62 cm (19–24 in). Each scale has three points, to which the specific name tricuspis refers. The head is small, and the snout is elongated. The feet are short, and each foot has five long curved claws. The tree pangolin had belonged to the genus Manis and subgenus Phataginus before Phataginus was elevated to generic status. Two subspecies were recognized in 1972 by Meester: The tree pangolin ranges from Guinea through Sierra Leone and much of West Africa to Central Africa as far east as extreme southwestern Kenya and northwestern Tanzania. To the south, it extends to northern Angola and northwestern Zambia. It has been found on the Atlantic island of Bioko, but no records confirm a presence in Senegal, Gambia, or Guinea-Bissau. The tree pangolin is semiarboreal and generally nocturnal. It is found in lowland tropical moist forests (both primary and secondary), as well as savanna/forest mosaics. It probably adapts to some degree to habitat modification, as it favours cultivated and fallow land where it is not aggressively hunted (e.g., abandoned or little-used oil palm trees in secondary growth). The tree pangolin can walk on all fours or on its hind legs using its prehensile tail for balance. It can climb up trees in the absence of branches. When walking on all fours, it walks on its front knuckles with its claws tucked underneath to protect them from wearing down. Its anal scent glands disperse a foul secretion much like a skunk when threatened. It has a well-developed sense of smell, but as a nocturnal animal, it has poor eyesight. Instead of teeth, it has a gizzard-like stomach full of stones and sand it ingests. The tree pangolin in Africa fills its stomach with air before entering water to aid in buoyancy for well-developed swimming.