Phataginus

African tree pangolin
Temporal range: middle Miocene - Present
Pangolins from genus Phataginus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pholidota
Family: Manidae
Subfamily: Phatagininae
Gaubert, 2017
Genus: Phataginus
Rafinesque, 1821
Type species
Manis tetradactyla
Linnaeus, 1766
Species
Synonyms
synonyms of subfamily:
  • Uromaninae (Pocock, 1924)
  • Uromanini (Pocock, 1924)
synonyms of genus:
  • Pangolinus (Rafinesque, 1821)
  • Paramanis (Pocock, 1924)
  • Phatages (Sundevall, 1843)
  • Phatagin (Gray, 1865)
  • Phataginus (Rafinesque, 1815) [nomen nudum]
  • Triglochinopholis (Fitzinger, 1872)
  • Uromanis (Pocock, 1924)

African tree pangolin (Phataginus) is a genus of African pangolins from subfamily small African pangolins (Phatagininae), within family Manidae. Its members are the more arboreal of the African pangolins.

From 2010 to 2019, at least 895,000 pangolins from the genus Phataginus were illegally trafficked. The animal is hunted and poached for its scales and meat, and is often used in making traditional medicine in places such as China and Vietnam. Attempts to protect these mammals from trafficking and extinction are ongoing; unfortunately their slow reproduction rate stymies population recovery. Currently the tree pangolin is listed as vulnerable. All pangolin species have been listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.