The Red-tailed Squirrel (*Sciurus granatensis*) is a strikingly colorful and agile tree squirrel native to the forests and woodland edges of northern and western South America, including Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Trinidad, where it inhabits a wide range of environments from lowland tropical forests to montane woodlands at elevations up to around 2,500 meters. It is a medium-sized squirrel with a notably vibrant appearance, characterized by a rich reddish-orange to chestnut-colored belly and a bushy, flame-colored tail that gives the species its common name, contrasting beautifully with its darker, olive-brown to blackish upperparts. Like other members of the family Sciuridae, it is an excellent climber, spending much of its life in the tree canopy where it forages for a varied diet that includes nuts, seeds, fruits, fungi, and occasionally insects or bird eggs. It plays an important ecological role in its habitat as a seed disperser, as it habitually buries food caches and does not always retrieve them, allowing seeds to germinate. The Red-tailed Squirrel is generally a solitary and diurnal animal, most active in the morning and late afternoon, and while it is not currently considered threatened, it faces pressure from habitat loss due to deforestation across parts of its range.
