Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Rodentia > Sciuridae > Xerospermophilus > Xerospermophilus spilosoma

Xerospermophilus spilosoma (spotted ground squirrel)

Synonyms: Spermophilus spilosoma
Language: Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The spotted ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus spilosoma) is a species of ground squirrel in the rodent family Sciuridae. It is found throughout Mexico and the central and western United States. Characterized by a white spotted back, the spotted ground squirrel is one of the smallest squirrels found in North America. They are mainly herbivorous, but also eat insects. A burrowing mammal, the spotted ground squirrel will make tunnels to store its food, as well as shelter and hibernation quarters.
View Wikipedia Record: Xerospermophilus spilosoma

Infraspecies

Xerospermophilus spilosoma altiplanensis
Xerospermophilus spilosoma ammophilus
Xerospermophilus spilosoma annectens
Xerospermophilus spilosoma bavicorensis
Xerospermophilus spilosoma cabrerai
Xerospermophilus spilosoma canescens
Xerospermophilus spilosoma cryptospilotus
Xerospermophilus spilosoma marginatus
Xerospermophilus spilosoma obsoletus
Xerospermophilus spilosoma oricolus
Xerospermophilus spilosoma pallescens
Xerospermophilus spilosoma pratensis
Xerospermophilus spilosoma spilosoma

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
1
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
11
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 3.33
EDGE Score: 1.46
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  89 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Granivore, Herbivore
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  20 %
Diet - Plants [2]  40 %
Diet - Seeds [2]  40 %
Forages - Ground [2]  100 %
Female Maturity [3]  1 year
Gestation [3]  28 days
Hibernates [4]  Yes
Litter Size [5]  7
Litters / Year [3]  2
Maximum Longevity [3]  4 years
Snout to Vent Length [3]  11 inches (28 cm)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands Mexico, United States No

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Consumers

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Felisa A. Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, S. K. Morgan Ernest, Kate E. Jones, Dawn M. Kaufman, Tamar Dayan, Pablo A. Marquet, James H. Brown, and John P. Haskell. 2003. Body mass of late Quaternary mammals. Ecology 84:3403
♦ 2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 3Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 4Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 5Spermophilus spilosoma, Donald P. Streubel and James P. Fitzgerald, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 101, pp. 1-4 (1978)
♦ 6Food Habits of Rodents Inhabiting Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems of Central New Mexico, ANDREW G. HOPE AND ROBERT R. PARMENTER, Special Publication of the Museum of Southwestern Biology, NUMBER 9, pp. 1–75 (2007)
♦ 7Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
♦ 8International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0