ground squirrel
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ground squirrel, any of 62 species of long-bodiedterrestrialrodents that are active during the day and have short legs, strong claws, small rounded ears, and a short or moderately long tail. Colour varies widely among species from gray, tawny, or pale brown to olive, reddish, or very dark brown. A few species are solid-coloured, but most exhibit characteristic patterns such as dappling, lines of spots, white to brownish black stripes, bright reddish brown cheeks, or stripes combined with a yellowish red mantle over the head and shoulders. Underparts are white, shades of gray, tones of buff, or brown. In some species individuals may be partially or completely black (melanistic). Fur ranges in texture from harsh and thin to soft anddense and sometimes woolly.
Nontropical ground squirrels
The name groundsquirrel is typically applied to small rodents that excavate burrows and are associated with open habitats at temperate latitudes in North American and Eurasia as well as arid regions of Africa. The 38 species of North American ground squirrels and Eurasiansousliks (genusSpermophilus) are found fromsea level to mountaintops in open habitats and occasionally in forests. TheBarbary ground squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus) lives in rocky habitats from sea level to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in theAtlas Mountains of northwestern Africa, and the four species ofAfrican ground squirrels (genusXerus) inhabit savannas and rocky deserts in northern, eastern, and southern Africa.Central Asia’s sandy deserts are home to the single species oflong-clawed ground squirrel (genusSpermophilopsis), whereas the deserts of the southwesternUnited States and northern Mexico are populated by five species ofantelope ground squirrel (genusAmmospermophilus). Thewhite-tailed antelope squirrel (A. leucurus) of the southwestern United States is one of the smallest of all ground squirrels, weighing 96 to 117 grams (3.4 to 4 ounces) and having a body up to 17 cm (6.7 inches) long and a tail of less than 8 cm. One of the largest is therock squirrel (Spermophilus variegatus) of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Weighing 450 to 875 grams, it has a body up to 30 cm long and a somewhat shorter, bushy tail. Members of both thesegenera have internal cheek pouches, which are used to collect food for storage in burrows.
Most nontropical ground squirrels are omnivorous.Franklin’s ground squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii) of the north-central United States and southern Canada eats a representative omnivore diet: a wide variety of green plant parts, fruit, insects (caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles and their larvae, and ants), vertebrates (toads, frogs, the eggs and chicks of ducks and songbirds, mice, smaller ground squirrels, and small rabbits), and carrion. Others, such as theUinta ground squirrel (S. armatus) of theRocky Mountains in the western United States, are primarily vegetarian, eating mostly green plant parts and seeds.
Spermophilus specieshibernate deeply during winter months. The body temperature of the13-lined ground squirrel (S. tridecemlineatus) of centralNorth America drops from 37 °C (98.6 °F) to 1 to 3 degrees above burrow temperature. During this time theheart rate decreases from 200 to 350 beats per minute in the activeanimal to about 5, and the respiration rate falls from 50 breaths per minute to about 4.
In contrast, the antelope and African ground squirrels are active all year. These two groups regulate their body temperature by entering and re-emerging from cool burrows during hot parts of the day. Outside the burrow they sit or stand facing away from the sun, their long, wide, and bushy tail serving as a heat shield over the animal’s back. Central Asia’s long-clawed ground squirrel is also active year-round, remaining in its burrow only on extremely cold winter days.
Tropical ground squirrels
Tropical ground squirrels are active all year and do not store food. The five genera (Dremomys,Lariscus,Menetes,Rhinosciurus, andHyosciurus) live in the forests ofSoutheast Asia but not in the Philippines. Although they sometimes utilize holes in the ground, these rodents usually nest in hollow tree trunks and rotting branches on the forest floor. Diet varies among species but generally includes a greater percentage ofarthropods than that of nontropical ground squirrels. Theshrew-faced ground squirrel (R. laticaudatus) of theSunda Islands, for example, is highly specialized to eat earthworms and insects with its greatly elongated snout, long tongue, and weak incisor teeth. Thethree-striped ground squirrel (L. insignis), also of the Sunda Islands, is reported to eat fruit, roots, and insects; plainlong-nosed ground squirrels (genusDremomys) eat fruit, insects, and earthworms. The two species ofSulawesi ground squirrel (genusHyosciurus) haveelongated snouts and use their long, strong claws to dig for beetle larvae in rotting wood; they also eat acorns.
Classification
Ground squirrels belong to the subfamily Sciurinae, which includes treesquirrels andchipmunks. Subfamily Sciurinae is part of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) in the orderRodentia.Atlantoxerus,Xerus, andSpermophilopsis are closely related within this subfamily, as areAmmospermophilus andSpermophilus, which are classified in a subgroup within Sciurinae that includesmarmots andprairie dogs. The tropical ground squirrels are most closely related to tropical Asian tree squirrels.
- Ground squirrels
- 62 species in 10 genera, 5 found only in tropical Southeast Asia.
- GenusSpermophilus(North American ground squirrels and Eurasian sousliks)
- 38 species.
- GenusAmmospermophilus(antelope ground squirrels)
- 5 North American species.
- GenusDremomys(plain long-nosed ground squirrels)
- 5 Southeast Asian species.
- GenusLariscus(striped ground squirrels)
- 4 Southeast Asian species.
- GenusXerus(African ground squirrels)
- 4 North African species.
- GenusHyosciurus(Sulawesi long-nosed ground squirrels)
- 2 Southeast Asian species.
- GenusMenetes(Indochinese ground squirrel)
- 1 Southeast Asian species.
- GenusSpermophilopsis(long-clawed ground squirrel)
- 1 Central Asian species.
- GenusRhinosciurus(shrew-faced ground squirrel)
- 1 Southeast Asian species.
- GenusAtlantoxerus(Barbary ground squirrel)
- 1 North African species.