What is the long-tailed pangolin?

The long-tailed pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), also known as the black-bellied pangolin or African long-tailed pangolin, is the smallest of Africa's four pangolin species. It is the only pangolin species that is primarily arboreal — spending most of its life in trees rather than on the ground. It is found across the rainforest belt of West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Uganda and south through the Congo Basin. Adults typically weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms and have a body length (including tail) of 60 to 100 centimetres, with the prehensile tail accounting for more than half of total length.

How is the long-tailed pangolin different from other African pangolins?

The long-tailed pangolin differs from its three African relatives in several key ways. It is substantially smaller than the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and the Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). Its tail is proportionally the longest of any pangolin species and is highly prehensile, used for gripping branches and hanging while foraging. Unlike the ground-dwelling Smutsia species, it rarely descends to the forest floor. It has a dark or black ventral surface (hence 'black-bellied'), distinguishing it from the white-bellied pangolin whose underparts are pale. It is also the only pangolin species in which the tail has more than 46 vertebrae.

What does the long-tailed pangolin eat?

The long-tailed pangolin feeds almost exclusively on arboreal ants, particularly tree-nesting ant species in the genera Crematogaster and Camponotus. Unlike ground-dwelling pangolin species that excavate termite mounds in soil, the long-tailed pangolin specialises in accessing ant colonies in tree bark crevices, epiphytic plant roots, and the structural cavities of forest trees. Its long, flexible tongue and the ability to brace itself on branches while feeding allow it to exploit food sources that terrestrial pangolins cannot access. It has not been reliably documented eating termites in the wild, which is unusual among pangolins.

What is the conservation status of the long-tailed pangolin?

The long-tailed pangolin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a population trend assessed as decreasing. Like all pangolin species, it faces pressure from hunting for bushmeat and traditional medicine and from forest habitat loss. Its range across the Congo Basin and West African forest zone overlaps with regions of significant deforestation and agricultural expansion. Research on this species is limited compared to Temminck's ground pangolin and Asian species, partly because its arboreal habit makes it difficult to study and camera trap. Population data is largely absent, and its Vulnerable listing reflects suspected rather than confirmed decline rates.

Is the long-tailed pangolin the same as the black-bellied pangolin?

Yes. Phataginus tetradactyla has two common names in widespread use: long-tailed pangolin, which refers to its most distinctive physical feature, and black-bellied pangolin, which refers to its dark ventral colouring. The long-tailed name is more widely used in scientific and conservation literature. It should not be confused with the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), which is a separate and closely related African species sharing overlapping forest range. Both species are in the genus Phataginus, distinguishing them from the ground-dwelling African pangolins in the genus Smutsia.

Species Profiles 11 June 2026 8 min read

Long-Tailed Pangolin: Complete Guide to Africa's Smallest and Most Arboreal Pangolin

In the canopy layers of Central and West Africa's rainforests, a small, scaled animal moves with surprising agility among the branches. It hangs by its tail to forage in bark crevices, coils itself around a branch to sleep, and rarely — if ever — descends to the forest floor. This is the long-tailed pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), Africa's smallest pangolin species and its only true specialist of arboreal life.

While Temminck's ground pangolin receives much of the attention in South African conservation circles and the Sunda pangolin dominates headlines from Southeast Asia, the long-tailed pangolin remains relatively understudied and underrepresented in public conservation discourse. Yet it shares the threats facing all eight pangolin species and presents unique ecological characteristics that make it scientifically fascinating.

Taxonomy and Naming

The long-tailed pangolin belongs to the genus Phataginus, one of three genera that collectively contain all eight living pangolin species. The genus Phataginus contains Africa's two smaller, forest-dwelling species: Phataginus tetradactyla (the long-tailed or black-bellied pangolin) and Phataginus tricuspis (the white-bellied or tree pangolin). Africa's two larger ground-dwelling species — the giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) and Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) — belong to the separate genus Smutsia. All four Asian pangolin species are in the genus Manis.

The species has two common names used in conservation and scientific literature. "Long-tailed pangolin" refers to its most prominent physical characteristic. "Black-bellied pangolin" refers to its dark ventral skin colouring, distinguishing it from the pale-bellied white-bellied pangolin with which it shares much of its range. In French-language literature covering its Central and West African range, it is known as the pangolin à longue queue.

The scientific epithet tetradactyla (meaning "four-toed") refers to the four claws on each forefoot — a feature shared with other pangolins and not unique to this species, making the common name more descriptive of the animal's ecology.

Physical Characteristics

The long-tailed pangolin is the smallest of Africa's four pangolin species. Adults typically weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms, with males slightly larger than females. Body length from snout to tail tip ranges from 60 to 100 centimetres, with a striking proportion: the tail alone accounts for 55 to 65 percent of total length in most individuals. This exceptionally long, muscular, prehensile tail is the species' most immediately recognisable feature.

The tail is not merely long but functionally specialised. It terminates in a naked pad on the underside that provides grip on bark, and the tail itself can wrap around branches and support the animal's full body weight, allowing it to hang and forage in positions that would be impossible for a ground-dependent animal. The tail contains more vertebrae than that of any other pangolin species — counts of 46 to 47 caudal vertebrae have been recorded, compared to around 30 to 36 in the Temminck's ground pangolin.

The dorsal scales are olive-brown to dark brown and arranged in rows, as in all pangolins. The ventral surface is dark — black or very dark brown — which gives the animal its alternative common name and distinguishes it at a glance from the white-bellied pangolin whose pale underparts contrast with its darker dorsal scales. The face is elongated, the snout narrow and tapered, and the small eyes are covered by thick lids adapted for protection during feeding.

Distribution and Habitat

The long-tailed pangolin's range spans the tropical forest belt of West and Central Africa, from Senegal and Gambia in the west through Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Uganda and western Rwanda in the east.

Within this range, the species is closely associated with lowland tropical rainforest and gallery forest — habitats characterised by continuous forest canopy and abundant arboreal ant communities. It occurs at elevations from sea level to approximately 1,200 metres. It shows a preference for areas with high forest canopy closure and abundant epiphytic vegetation, which support the arboreal ant colonies that form its primary prey.

Unlike Temminck's ground pangolin, which has been documented persisting in degraded and agricultural landscapes, the long-tailed pangolin appears more strictly dependent on intact or near-intact forest cover. Deforestation — the primary threat to Congo Basin and West African forests — therefore represents a direct threat to the species at the habitat level, beyond the hunting pressure that affects all pangolin species.

Ecology and Behaviour

The long-tailed pangolin is nocturnal and solitary, consistent with all pangolin species. It spends daylight hours curled in a tree hollow, dense epiphytic growth, or a branch fork, typically at heights of three to fifteen metres above the ground. At dusk it becomes active, moving through the canopy to locate and exploit ant colonies.

Its foraging specialisation is notable. Unlike ground pangolins that excavate soil-based termite mounds or tree stumps, the long-tailed pangolin focuses almost exclusively on arboreal ant species — primarily Crematogaster ants (acrobat ants), which build carton nests on tree branches and inside bark cavities, and Camponotus carpenter ants that nest in woody plant tissues. This specialisation reflects a genuine ecological niche differentiation: in forests where both long-tailed and white-bellied pangolins occur, dietary divergence reduces direct competition between the two species.

The species has not been reliably documented feeding on termites, which is unusual among pangolins — most other species include termites as a significant dietary component. This dietary narrowness makes the long-tailed pangolin particularly dependent on the maintenance of diverse, structurally complex forest that supports abundant arboreal ant populations.

Field observations and radio-tracking studies — limited in number for this species — suggest home range sizes of 10 to 50 hectares for adults, considerably smaller than the hundreds of hectares used by Temminck's ground pangolins. The smaller home range likely reflects the higher density and more predictable distribution of arboreal ant prey compared to the more dispersed and spatially variable termite colonies that ground-dwelling pangolins exploit.

Reproduction

Reproductive biology of the long-tailed pangolin is poorly documented in wild populations. Like other pangolin species, females appear to give birth to single offspring (rarely twins). Captive records and occasional wild observations suggest a gestation period of approximately 90 to 140 days, consistent with the range documented for other Phataginus species.

Newborns are born with soft scales that harden within days. In arboreal species, the mother's carrying behaviour is particularly important: pups are transported clinging to the base of the mother's tail — the same prehensile structure used for canopy movement — allowing the mother to move through tree canopy with her offspring in tow. This tail-transport adaptation is shared with the white-bellied pangolin and represents an elegant solution to the challenge of raising young while maintaining arboreal mobility.

Conservation Status and Threats

The long-tailed pangolin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a decreasing population trend. Like all eight pangolin species, it is listed on CITES Appendix I, prohibiting commercial international trade. The Vulnerable listing reflects suspected population declines across its range rather than confirmed census data — direct population estimates for this species do not exist.

The primary threats are hunting and habitat loss. Across much of its range in West and Central Africa, the long-tailed pangolin is hunted for bushmeat — a significant protein source in forest-fringe communities — and for traditional medicine use. In the Congo Basin, which contains Africa's largest remaining tropical forest, commercial bushmeat hunting networks supply urban markets, and pangolins of multiple species are among the species sold.

Deforestation represents the second major threat. The long-tailed pangolin's dependence on intact forest canopy means it is more vulnerable to agricultural conversion and logging than more generalist ground-dwelling species. West Africa has experienced some of the world's highest proportional deforestation rates, and forest loss in countries like Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria has substantially reduced available habitat across the western portion of the species' range.

Research Challenges

The long-tailed pangolin is among the least studied of all eight pangolin species, partly due to the practical difficulties of working in Central and West African rainforest and partly due to the species' arboreal habits. Camera traps deployed at ground level — the standard survey method for most terrestrial mammals — are ineffective for an animal that rarely descends from the canopy. Radio or GPS telemetry requires capture and fitting of collars or harnesses that are appropriate for a small arboreal animal, which presents technical challenges distinct from those faced in ground pangolin studies.

The IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group has identified the long-tailed pangolin as a research priority, noting that population data, ecological requirements, and response to habitat modification are all poorly understood. Efforts to adapt camera trap deployment methodology — including canopy-level camera placement and thermal imaging — are ongoing. Until better field data exist, conservation planning for this species must operate under significant uncertainty about its abundance, distribution, and population trends.

What is not uncertain is the broader context: all eight pangolin species are declining, all face commercial hunting pressure, and all are losing habitat. For the long-tailed pangolin, protection of the Central African forest landscape it depends on is not just a species conservation issue — it is inseparable from the broader challenge of maintaining the Congo Basin as one of the world's three great tropical forest systems and the extraordinary biodiversity it contains.