The southwestern red squirrel or Fremont's squirrel (''Tamiasciurus fremonti'') is a species of
tree squirrel
Tree squirrels are the members of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) commonly just referred to as "squirrels." They include more than 100 arboreal species native to all continents except Antarctica and Oceania.
They do not form a single natural, o ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to high-altitude regions of the
southwestern United States.
Taxonomy
It was formerly considered conspecific with the
American red squirrel (''T. hudsonicus''), but a 2016 study found sufficient phylogenetic evidence indicating it was a distinct species.
The
American Society of Mammalogists accepted the results of this study.
The
Mount Graham red squirrel
The Mount Graham red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus fremonti grahamensis'') is an endangered subspecies of the southwestern red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus fremonti'') native to the Pinaleño Mountains of Arizona. It is smaller than most other subspecies ...
(''T. f. grahamensis'') is a notable, endangered subspecies of the southwestern red squirrel. In addition, genetic sampling indicates that squirrels from the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico form a highly divergent clade that dates back to the
Last Glacial Maximum, about 130,000 years ago. Squirrels in the
San Mateo Mountains also appear to be genetically divergent, although this is only based on a single individual.
Distribution
It ranges from the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
of southern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
into the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
and the
Mogollon Mountains
The Mogollon Mountains or Mogollon Range ( or ) are a mountain range in Grant County and Catron County of southwestern New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. They are primarily protected within the Gila National Forest.
Geography
The Mo ...
in both New Mexico and
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. Its range overlaps with that of ''T. hudsonicus'' in the southern Rocky Mountains.
Habitat
They largely inhabit
mixed coniferous and
spruce-fir forests
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfamil ...
. Although they occasionally venture down into
ponderosa pine
''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...
forests, they are absent from ranges that do not include the higher-elevation spruce-fir and mixed coniferous forests. Due to the limited range of this habitat, the population of southwestern red squirrels is naturally fragmented and has little gene flow between subpopulations; these populations may have been more widespread during the last glaciation, when these forests were more connected. Fossil remains of this species are known from the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
, indicating that they likely once had a suitable climate.
Conservation
There is little evidence of demographic-driven expansion in populations of this species, and mountain ranges each have their own highly-divergent clades of species, indicating high separation and little gene flow between populations. If this lack of connectivity is compounded with further
degradation
Degradation may refer to:
Science
* Degradation (geology), lowering of a fluvial surface by erosion
* Degradation (telecommunications), of an electronic signal
* Biodegradation of organic substances by living organisms
* Environmental degradatio ...
of their habitats, the population dynamics of this species could eventually be driven by
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
. Thus, this species is thought to be of high conservation concern. One notable subspecies, the
Mount Graham red squirrel
The Mount Graham red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus fremonti grahamensis'') is an endangered subspecies of the southwestern red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus fremonti'') native to the Pinaleño Mountains of Arizona. It is smaller than most other subspecies ...
, is already thought to be endangered.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q89875686
Tamiasciurus
Squirrel, Southwestern Red
Squirrel, Southwestern Red
Endemic fauna of the Southwestern United States
Fauna of the Rocky Mountains
Natural history of Arizona
Taxa named by John James Audubon
Taxa named by John Bachman
Mammals described in 1853