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Urocitellus Nancyae
''Urocitellus'' is a genus of ground squirrels. They were previously believed to belong to the much larger genus ''Spermophilus'', but DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b, cytochrome ''b'' gene showed that this group was paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots, and could therefore no longer be retained as a single genus. As a result, ''Urocitellus'' is now considered as a genus in its own right. All but two species are native to the northern and western parts of North America, from California and Minnesota through the north-western United States and western Canada; the Arctic ground squirrel inhabits Arctic terrain on both sides of the Bering Strait, while the long-tailed ground squirrel is exclusively found in Asia. The name of the genus is said to be derived from the Latin ''uro'', meaning "tail" and ''citellus'' for "ground squirrel". The proper word for "tail" in classical Latin is ''cauda''.Lewis, C.T. & Short, C. (1879). ''A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richardson's Ground Squirrel
Richardson's ground squirrel (''Urocitellus richardsonii''), also known as the dakrat or flickertail, is a North American ground squirrel in the genus ''Urocitellus''. Like a number of other ground squirrels, they are sometimes called prairie dogs or gophers, though the latter name belongs more strictly to the pocket gophers of family Geomyidae, and the former to members of the genus ''Cynomys''. Taxonomy This squirrel was named after the Scottish naturalist Sir John Richardson. North Dakota is nicknamed the Flickertail state after the squirrel. The nickname Dakrat is derived from "Dakota Rat" and is a commonly used name around Minot, North Dakota and on Minot Air Force Base. Habitat Native to the short grass prairies, Richardson's ground squirrel is found mainly in the northern states of the United States, such as North Dakota and Montana, and in western Canada, including central and southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan. The range of this animal expanded as forests w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
