''Spermophilus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
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 ...
s in the
squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
to the certainly distinct
prairie dog
Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...
s,
marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...
s, and
antelope squirrel
Antelope squirrels or antelope ground squirrels of the genus ''Ammospermophilus'' are sciurids found in the desert and dry scrub areas of south-western United States and northern Mexico. They are a type of ground squirrel and are able to resist ...
s. As a consequence, all the former ''Spermophilus'' species of North America have been moved to other genera, leaving the European and Asian species as true ''Spermophilus'' (the only exceptions are two Asian ''
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 m ...
'').
Some species are sometimes called susliks (or sousliks). This name comes from Russian
суслик, ''suslik''. In some languages, a derivative of the name is in common usage, for example ''suseł'' in Polish. The scientific name of this genus means "seed-lovers" (gr. σπέρμα ''sperma'', genitive σπέρματος ''spermatos'' – seed; φίλος ''philos'' – friend, lover).
Habitat and behavior
As typical ground squirrels, ''Spermophilus'' live in open habitats like grasslands, meadows,
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
and semideserts, feed on the low plants, and use burrows as nests and refuge.
They are
diurnal and mostly live in colonies, although some species also can occur singly.
They are found in both lowlands to highlands,
hibernate
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
during the colder months (up to 8 months each year in some species) and in arid regions they may also
aestivate
Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a ...
during the summer or fall.
[ The distributions of the various species are mostly separated, often by large rivers, although there are regions inhabited by as many as three species and rarely two species may even form mixed colonies.][ A few species are known to ]hybridize
Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to:
*Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid
*Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals
*Nu ...
where their ranges come into contact.[
]
Appearance
''Spermophilus'' are overall yellowish, light orangish, light brownish or greyish. Although many are inconspicuously mottled or spotted, or have orange markings on the head, overall they lack strong patterns, except in '' S. suslicus'', which commonly has brown upperparts with clear white spotting.[ Size varies with species and they have a head-and-body length of . Before hibernation the largest '' S. fulvus'' may weigh up to and the largest '' S. major'' up to almost , but they always weigh much less earlier in the year and other species are considerably smaller, mostly less than even in peak condition before hibernation.][ All have a fairly short tail that—depending on exact species—is around 10–45% of the length of the head-and-body.][
]
Relationship with humans
Ground squirrels may carry fleas that transmit diseases to humans (see Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
), and have been destructive in tunneling underneath human habitation.
Species
A generic revision was undertaken in 2007 by means of phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analyses using the mitochondrial
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...
gene cytochrome b
Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes.
F ...
. This resulted in the splitting of ''Spermophilus'' into eight genera, which with the prairie dog
Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...
s, marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...
s, and antelope squirrel
Antelope squirrels or antelope ground squirrels of the genus ''Ammospermophilus'' are sciurids found in the desert and dry scrub areas of south-western United States and northern Mexico. They are a type of ground squirrel and are able to resist ...
s are each given as numbered clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
s. The exact relations between the clades are slightly unclear. Among these, these exclusively Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
species are retained as the genus ''Spermophilus sensu stricto'' (in the strictest sense).
* ''Spermophilus sensu stricto
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
'', Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
ground squirrels
:* Alashan ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus alashanicus''
:* Brandt's ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus brevicauda''
:* European ground squirrel
The European ground squirrel (''Spermophilus citellus''), also known as the European souslik, is a species from the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is among the few European species in the genus ''Spermophilus''. Like all squirrels, it is a member ...
, ''Spermophilus citellus''
:* Daurian ground squirrel
The Daurian ground squirrel (''Spermophilus dauricus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in China, Mongolia, and Russia.
Distribution
The daurian ground squirrel has a wide range in north east China, extending into Mo ...
, ''Spermophilus dauricus''
:* Red-cheeked ground squirrel
The red-cheeked ground squirrel (''Spermophilus erythrogenys'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is commonly referred to as the red-cheeked ground souslik and there are several recognized subspecies. It is found in central Asia. ...
, ''Spermophilus erythrogenys''
:* Yellow ground squirrel
The yellow ground squirrel (''Spermophilus fulvus'') is a large and sturdy ground squirrel species native to Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. It inhabits sandy steppes with Artemisia, glasswort and tamari ...
, ''Spermophilus fulvus''
:* Russet ground squirrel
The russet ground squirrel (''Spermophilus major'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is also known as the hibernating large ground squirrel and the large-toothed souslik. It is found in west central Asia where its natural habita ...
, ''Spermophilus major''
:* Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus musicus''
:* Tian Shan ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus nilkaensis''
:* Pallid ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus pallidicauda''
:* Little ground squirrel
The little ground squirrel or little souslik, (''Spermophilus pygmaeus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.
Its subspecies include ''Spermophilus pygmaeus pygmaeus'', ''Spermophilus ...
, ''Spermophilus pygmaeus''
:* Relict ground squirrel, ''Spermophilus relictus''
:* Speckled ground squirrel
The speckled ground squirrel or spotted souslik (''Spermophilus suslicus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae from Eastern Europe. ''Spermophilus suslicus'' consists of three subspecies: ''S. s. boristhenicus'', ''S. s. guttatus'', a ...
, ''Spermophilus suslicus''
:* Taurus ground squirrel
The Taurus ground squirrel (''Spermophilus taurensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to the Taurus Mountains of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriye ...
, ''Spermophilus taurensis''
:* Asia Minor ground squirrel
The Asia Minor ground squirrel (''Spermophilus xanthoprymnus''), also known as Anatolian souslik, Anatolian ground squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. The scientific name roughly tran ...
, ''Spermophilus xanthoprymnus''
Prehistoric species
Discovery and examination of one of the best preserved Eurasian ground squirrel fossils yet recovered allowed the study of many previously unknown aspects of ground squirrel cranial anatomy, and prompted a critical reassessment of their phylogenetic position. As a result, three Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
species previously considered members of the ''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 m ...
'' genus were moved to ''Spermophilus'':
:* †'' Spermophilus nogaici''
:* †''Spermophilus polonicus
''Spermophilus'' is a genus of ground squirrels in the squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to the certa ...
''
:* †'' Spermophilus primigenius''
'' Spermophilus citelloides'' is known from the Middle Pleistocene to early Holocene of Europe. It appears to be most closely related to the living ''S. suslicus''.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q199251
Rodents of Europe
Mammals of North America
Mammals of Asia
Rodent genera
Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier