California ground squirrel
| California ground squirrel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Otospermophilus |
| Species: | O. beecheyi |
| Binomial name | |
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Otospermophilus beecheyi (Richardson, 1829) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Arctomys (Spermophilus) beecheyi Richardson, 1829 |
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Arctomys (Spermophilus) beecheyi Richardson, 1829
Spermophilus beecheyi
Citellus beecheyi
The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), 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.
John Richardson, who originally described the species as Arctomys (Spermophilus) beecheyi, or the "Beechey's marmot", named it after Frederick William Beechey, an early 19th-century British explorer and naval officer.
The squirrel's upper parts are mottled, the fur containing a mixture of gray, light brown and dusky hairs; the underside is lighter, buff or grayish yellow. The fur around the eyes is whitish, while that around the ears is black. Head and body are about 30 cm (12 in) long and the tail an additional 15 cm (5.9 in). The tail is relatively bushy for a ground squirrel, and at a quick glance the squirrel might be mistaken for a fox squirrel.
As is typical for ground squirrels, California ground squirrels live in burrows which they excavate themselves. Some burrows are occupied communally but each individual squirrel has its own entrance. Although they readily become tame in areas used by humans, and quickly learn to take food left or offered by picnickers, they spend most of their time within 25 m (82 ft) of their burrow, and rarely go further than 50 m (160 ft) from it.
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Wikipedia