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Ground Squirrel
Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents (Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots (genus ''Marmota'') or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks (genus ''Tamias''). Together, they make up the "marmot tribe" of squirrels, Marmotini, a division within the large and mainly ground squirrel subfamily Xerinae, and containing six living genera. Well-known members of this largely Holarctic group are the marmots (''Marmota''), including the American groundhog, the chipmunks, the susliks (''Spermophilus''), and the prairie dogs (''Cynomys''). They are highly variable in size and habitus, but most are remarkably able to rise up on their hind legs and stand fully erect comfortably for prolonged periods. They also tend to be far more gregarious than other sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Ground Squirrel
The California ground squirrel (''Otospermophilus beecheyi''), also known as the Beechey ground squirrel, is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada. Formerly placed in ''Spermophilus'', as ''Spermophilus beecheyi'', it was reclassified in ''Otospermophilus'' in 2009, as it became clear that ''Spermophilus'' as previously defined was not a natural (monophyletic) group. A full species account was published for this species in 2016. Etymology John Richardson, who originally described the species as ''Arctomys (Spermophilus) beecheyi'', or "Beechey's marmot", named it after Frederick William Beechey, an early 19th-century British explorer and naval officer. Description The squirrel's upper parts are mottled, with the fur containing a mixture of gray, light brown and dusky hairs. The shoul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rupelian
The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian Stage. Name The stage is named after the small river Rupel in Belgium, a tributary to the Scheldt. The Belgian Rupel Group derives its name from the same source. The name Rupelian was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Hubert Dumont in 1850. The separation between the group and the stage was made in the second half of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic names. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Rupelian Stage (which is also the base of the Oligocene Series) is at the extinction of the foraminiferan genus ''Hantkenina''. An official GSSP for the base of the Rupelian has been assigned in 1992 (Massignano, Italy). The transitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, and were introduced by humans to Australia. The earliest known fossilized squirrels date from the Eocene epoch, and among other living rodent families, the squirrels are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to the dormice. Etymology The word ''squirrel'', first attested in 1327, comes from the Anglo-Norman which is from the Old French , the reflex of a Latin word , which was taken from the Ancient Greek word (; from ) 'shadow-tailed', referring to the long bushy tail which many of its members have. The native Old English word for the squirrel, , survived only into Middle English (as ) before being replaced. The Old English word is of Common Germanic origin, cognat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subtribes And Genera
Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...). The early use of this word is from 19th century. An example of subtribe is Hyptidinae that contains approximately 400 accepted species distributed in 19 genera. References Botanical nomenclature Plant taxonomy Zoological nomenclature {{Botany-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urocitellus
''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'' 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 of Freund's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamias ''Tamias'' is a genus of chipmunks in the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. The genus includes a single living species, the eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus''). The genus name ''Tamias'' ( el, ταμίας) means "treasurer", "steward", or "housekeeper", which is a reference to the animals' role in plant dispersal through their habit of collecting and storing food for winter use. The genus ''Tamias'' was formerly divided into three subgenera that, in sum, included all chipmunk species: ''Tamias'', the eastern chipmunk and other fossil species; ''Eutamias'', of which the Siberian chipmunk (''E. sibiricus'') is the only living member; and ''Neotamias'', which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western, species. These classifications are subjective, and most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the chipmunks in a single genus. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA show that the divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the genetic di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Go |
