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Squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels are members of t he family Sciuridae, a family t hat includes small or medium-size
rodent s. The squirrel family includes t ree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and
prairie dogs, among ot hers), and flying squirrels. Squirrels are indigenous t o t he Americas, Eurasia,
and Africa, and were int roduced by humans t o Aust ralia.[1] The earliest known fossilized squirrels
dat e from t he Eocene epoch, and among ot her living rodent families, t he squirrels are most
closely relat ed t o t he mount ain beaver and t o t he dormice.
Squirrels
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordat a
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodent ia
Suborder: Sciuromorpha
Family: Sciuridae
Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Type genus
Sciurus
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies and tribes
Subfamily Rat ufinae
Subfamily Sciurillinae
Subfamily Sciurinae
Tribe Sciurini
Tribe Pt eromyini
Subfamily Callosciurinae
Tribe Callosciurini
Tribe Funambulini
Subfamily Xerinae
Tribe Xerini
Etymology
The word "squirrel", first at t est ed in 1327, comes from t he Anglo-Norman esquirel which is from
t he Old French escurel, t he reflex of a Lat in word sciurus, which was t aken from t he Ancient
Greek word σκίουρος (from σκία-ουρος), skiouros, "shadow-t ailed", referring t o t he long bushy
t ail which many of it s members have.[2][3]
The nat ive Old English word for t he squirrel, ācweorna, survived only int o Middle English (as
aquerne) before being replaced.[4] The Old English word is of Common Germanic origin, cognat es
of which are st ill used in ot her Germanic languages, including t he German Eichhörnchen
(diminut ive of Eichhorn, which is not as frequent ly used), t he Norwegian ikorn/ekorn, t he Dut ch
eekhoorn, t he Swedish ekorre and t he Danish egern.
Characteristics
Reaching out for food on a garden bird feeder, this squirrel can rotate its hind feet, allowing it to descend a tree head-first.
Skull of an Oriental giant squirrel (genus Ratufa)—note the classic sciuromorphous shape of the anterior zygomatic region.
Squirrels are generally small animals, ranging in size from t he African pygmy squirrel and least
pygmy squirrel at 10–14 cm (3.9–5.5 in) in t ot al lengt h and just 12–26 g (0.42–0.92 oz) in
weight ,[7][8] t o t he Bhut an giant flying squirrel at up t o 1.27 m (4 ft 2 in) in t ot al lengt h,[9] and
several marmot species, which can weigh 8 kg (18 lb) or more.[10][11] Squirrels t ypically have
slender bodies wit h very long very bushy t ails and large eyes. In general, t heir fur is soft and silky,
t hough much t hicker in some species t han ot hers. The coat color of squirrels is highly variable
bet ween—and oft en even wit hin—species.[12]
In most squirrel species, t he hind limbs are longer t han t he fore limbs, while all species have
eit her four or five t oes on each foot . The feet , which include an oft en poorly developed t humb,
have soft pads on t he undersides[13] and versat ile, st urdy claws for grasping and climbing.[14]
Tree squirrels, unlike most mammals, can descend a t ree head-first . They do so by rot at ing t heir
ankles 180 degrees, enabling t he hind feet t o point backward and t hus grip t he t ree bark from
t he opposit e direct ion.[15]
Squirrels live in almost every habit at , from t ropical rainforest t o semiarid desert , avoiding only t he
high polar regions and t he driest of desert s. They are predominant ly herbivorous, subsist ing on
seeds and nut s, but many will eat insect s and even small vert ebrat es.[16]
As t heir large eyes indicat e, squirrels have an excellent sense of vision, which is especially
import ant for t he t ree-dwelling species. Many also have a good sense of t ouch, wit h vibrissae on
t heir limbs as well as t heir heads.[13]
The t eet h of sciurids follow t he t ypical rodent pat t ern, wit h large incisors (for gnawing) t hat
grow t hroughout life, and cheek t eet h (for grinding) t hat are set back behind a wide gap, or
diast ema. The t ypical dent al formula for sciurids is 1.0.1.3
1.0.1.3
.[17]
Many juvenile squirrels die in t he first year of life. Adult squirrels can have a lifespan of 5 t o 10
years in t he wild. Some can survive 10 t o 20 years in capt ivit y.[18] Premat ure deat h may be
caused when a nest falls from t he t ree, in which case t he mot her may abandon her young if t heir
body t emperat ure is not correct . Many such baby squirrels have been rescued and fost ered by a
professional wildlife rehabilit at or unt il t hey could be safely ret urned t o t he wild,[19] alt hough t he
densit y of squirrel populat ions in many places and t he const ant care required by premat ure
squirrels means t hat few rehabilit at ors are willing t o spend t heir t ime doing t his and such animals
are rout inely eut hanized inst ead.
To signal wit h.
The hairs from squirrel t ails are prized in fly fishing when t ying fishing flies. A special qualit y of
squirrel t ail hair is t hat it is all guard hairs, not undercoat .
When t he squirrel is sit t ing upright , it s t ail folded up it s back may st op predat ors looking from
behind from seeing t he charact erist ic shape of a small mammal.
Squirrel enjoying in the sun.
Squirrel in Chandigarh.
Squirrel near Chandigarh.
Behavior
Young squirrels
Squirrels mat e eit her once or t wice a year and, following a gest at ion period of t hree t o six
weeks, give birt h t o a number of offspring t hat varies by species. The young are alt ricial, being
born naked, t oot hless, and blind. In most species of squirrel, t he female alone looks aft er t he
young, which are weaned at six t o t en weeks and become sexually mat ure by t he end of t heir
first year. In general, t he ground-dwelling squirrel species are social, oft en living in well-developed
colonies, while t he t ree-dwelling species are more solit ary.[13]
Ground squirrels and t ree squirrels are usually eit her diurnal or crepuscular,[21] while t he flying
squirrels t end t o be noct urnal—except for lact at ing flying squirrels and t heir young, which have a
period of diurnalit y during t he summer.[22]
Feeding
Because squirrels cannot digest cellulose, t hey must rely on foods rich in prot ein, carbohydrat es,
and fat s. In t emperat e regions, early spring is t he hardest t ime of year for squirrels because t he
nut s t hey buried are beginning t o sprout (and t hus are no longer available t o eat ), while many of
t he usual food sources have not yet become available. During t hese t imes, squirrels rely heavily
on t he buds of t rees. Squirrels, being primarily herbivores, eat a wide variet y of plant s, as well as
nut s, seeds, conifer cones, fruit s, fungi, and green veget at ion. Some squirrels, however, also
consume meat , especially when faced wit h hunger.[16][24] Squirrels have been known t o eat small
birds, young snakes, and smaller rodent s, as well as bird eggs and insect s. Some t ropical squirrel
species have shift ed almost ent irely t o a diet of insect s.[25]
Squirrels, like pigeons and ot her fauna, are synant hropes, in t hat t hey benefit and t hrive from t heir
int eract ion in human environment s. This gradual process of successful int eract ion is called
synurbanizat ion, wherein squirrels lose t heir inherent fear of humans in an urban environment .[26]
When squirrels were almost complet ely eradicat ed during t he Indust rial Revolut ion in New York,
t hey were lat er re-int roduced t o "ent ert ain and remind" humans of nat ure. The squirrel blended
int o t he urban environment so efficient ly t hat when synant hropic behavior st ops (i.e. people do
not leave t rash out side during part icularly cold wint ers), t hey can become aggressive in t heir
search for food.
Aggression and predat ory behavior has been observed in various species of ground squirrels, in
part icular t he t hirt een-lined ground squirrel.[27] For example, Bernard Bailey, a scient ist in t he
1920s, observed a t hirt een-lined ground squirrel preying upon a young chicken.[28] Wist rand
report ed seeing t his same species eat ing a freshly killed snake.[29] There has also been at least
one report of squirrels preying on at ypical animals, such as an incident in 2005 where a pack of
black squirrels killed and at e a large st ray dog in Lazo, Russia.[30] As well, squirrel at t acks on
humans are exceedingly rare, but do occur.[31][32]
Whit aker examined t he st omachs of 139 t hirt een-lined ground squirrels and found bird flesh in
four of t he specimens and t he remains of a short -t ailed shrew in one;[33] Bradley, examining t he
st omachs of whit e-t ailed ant elope squirrels, found at least 10% of his 609 specimens' st omachs
cont ained some t ype of vert ebrat e, most ly lizards and rodent s.[34] Morgart observed a whit e-
t ailed ant elope squirrel capt uring and eat ing a silky pocket mouse.[35]
Taxonomy
The living squirrels are divided int o five subfamilies, wit h about 58 genera and some 285
species.[36] The oldest squirrel fossil, Hesperopetes, dat es back t o t he Chadronian (lat e Eocene,
about 40–35 million years ago) and is similar t o modern flying squirrels.[37]
A variet y of fossil squirrels, from t he lat est Eocene t o t he Miocene, have not been assigned wit h
cert aint y t o any living lineage. At least some of t hese probably were variant s of t he oldest basal
"prot osquirrels" (in t he sense t hat t hey lacked t he full range of living squirrels' aut apomorphies).
The dist ribut ion and diversit y of such ancient and ancest ral forms suggest t he squirrels as a
group may have originat ed in Nort h America.[38]
Apart from t hese somet imes lit t le-known fossil forms, t he phylogeny of t he living squirrels is
fairly st raight forward. The t hree main lineages are t he Rat ufinae (Orient al giant squirrels),
Sciurillinae and all ot her subfamilies. The Rat ufinae cont ain a mere handful of living species in
t ropical Asia. The neot ropical pygmy squirrel of t ropical Sout h America is t he sole living member
of t he Sciurillinae. The t hird lineage, by far t he largest , has a near-cosmopolit an dist ribut ion. This
furt her support s t he hypot hesis t hat t he common ancest or of all squirrels, living and fossil, lived
in Nort h America, as t hese t hree most ancient lineages seem t o have radiat ed from t here; if
squirrels had originat ed in Eurasia, for example, one would expect quit e ancient lineages in Africa,
but African squirrels seem t o be of more recent origin.[38]
The main group of squirrels also can be split int o t hree subgroups, which yield t he remaining
subfamilies. The Sciurinae cont ains t he flying squirrels (Pt eromyini) and t he Sciurini, which among
ot hers cont ains t he American t ree squirrels; t he former have oft en been considered a separat e
subfamily, but are now seen as a t ribe of t he Sciurinae. The pine squirrels (Tamiasciurus), on t he
ot her hand, are usually included wit h t he main t ree squirrel lineage, but appear t o be about as
dist inct as t he flying squirrels; hence, t hey are somet imes considered a dist inct t ribe,
Tamiasciurini.[39]
Two of t he t hree subfamilies are of about equal size, cont aining bet ween nearly 70 and 80
species each; t he t hird is about t wice as large. The Sciurinae cont ains arboreal (t ree-living)
squirrels, mainly of t he Americas and t o a lesser ext ent Eurasia. The Callosciurinae is most
diverse in t ropical Asia and cont ains squirrels t hat are also arboreal, but have a markedly different
habit us and appear more "elegant ", an effect enhanced by t heir oft en very colorful fur. The
Xerinae—t he largest subfamily—are made up from t he mainly t errest rial (ground-living) forms and
include t he large marmot s and t he popular prairie dogs, among ot hers, as well as t he t ree
squirrels of Africa; t hey t end t o be more gregarious t han ot her squirrels, which do not usually live
t oget her in close-knit groups.[38]
Kherem
Lagrivea
Oligosciurus
Plesiosciurus
Prospermophilus
Sciurion
Similisciurus
Sinotamias
Vulcanisciurus
Subfamily Sciurinae
Tribe Sciurini – t ree squirrels (5 genera, about 38 species)
Society
Squirrels are a cause for concern because t hey oft en cause elect rical disrupt ions. It has been
hypot hesized t hat t he t hreat t o t he int ernet , infrast ruct ure and services posed by squirrels may
exceed t hat posed by cyber-at t acks.[40]
See also
Animal t rack
Black squirrel
Fox squirrel
Red squirrel
References
6. Universe in Your Pocket by Joel Levy, published by Barnes & Noble, Inc.
8. Payne, J.; C.F. Francis (1998). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo (3 ed.). The Sabah Society.
p. 243. ISBN 967-99947-1-6.
9. Choudhury, A. (2002). "Petaurista nobilis singhei: First record in India and a note on its taxonomy". The
Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 99 (1): 30–34.
10. Kryštufek, B.; B. Vohralík (2013). "Taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic rodents (Rodentia). Part 2.
Sciuridae: Urocitellus, Marmota and Sciurotamias". Lynx, N. S. (Praha). 44: 27–138.
11. Armitage, K.B.; Blumstein, D.T. (2002). "Body-mass diversity in marmots. Holarctic marmots as a factor
of biodiversity". In K.B. Armitage; V.Yu. Rumiantsev (eds.). Holarctic Marmots as a Factor of
Biodiversity. ABF Publishing House. pp. 22–32.
15. Thorington, Richard W.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of
the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1421404691.
17. The Beginning of the Age of Mammals Kenneth D. Rose (2006) ISBN 978-0-801-88472-6 p. 326
18. Thorington, Richard W.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of
the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1421404691.
20. "Why do squirrels have bushy tails? | Nuts About Squirrels" (http://www.nutsaboutsquirrels.com/1695/w
hy-do-squirrels-have-bushy-tails/) .
23. Merja Laavola: Eläinten elintasosairaudet näkyvät Seurasaaressa. Vartti Etelä-Helsinki, Sanoma
Kaupunkilehdet, 2010. (in Finnish)
24. "Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog' " (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4489792.stm) . bbc.co.uk. 1 December
2005. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
25. Richard W. Thorington, Katie Ferrell – Squirrels: the animal answer guide (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=Y7cuEWCWpLMC&pg=PA75) , JHU Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8018-8402-0, ISBN 978-0-8018-8402-
3, p. 75.
26. Peiman, Kathryn (June 2016). "Sublethal consequences of urban life for wild vertebrates".
Environmental Reviews. 24 (4): 416–425. doi:10.1139/er-2016-0029 (https://doi.org/10.1139%2Fer-201
6-0029) . hdl:1807/74036 (https://hdl.handle.net/1807%2F74036) .
27. Friggens, M. (2002). "Carnivory on Desert Cottontails by Texas Antelope Ground Squirrels". The
Southwestern Naturalist. 47 (1): 132–133. doi:10.2307/3672818 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F367281
8) . JSTOR 3672818 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3672818) .
28. Bailey, B. (1923). "Meat-eating propensities of some rodents of Minnesota". Journal of Mammalogy. 4
(2): 129. doi:10.1093/jmammal/4.2.129 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjmammal%2F4.2.129) .
29. Wistrand, E.H. (1972). "Predation on a Snake by Spermophilus tridecemlineatus". American Midland
Naturalist. 88 (2): 511–512. doi:10.2307/2424389 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2424389) .
JSTOR 2424389 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2424389) .
30. "Russian Squirrel Pack Kills Dog" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4489792.stm) . BBC News. Retrieved
7 August 2020.
33. Whitaker, J.O. (1972). "Food and external parasites of Spermophilus tridecemlineatus in Vigo County,
Indiana". Journal of Mammalogy. 53 (3): 644–648. doi:10.2307/1379067 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1
379067) . JSTOR 1379067 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1379067) .
34. Bradley, W. G. (1968). "Food habits of the antelope ground squirrel in southern Nevada". Journal of
Mammalogy. 49 (1): 14–21. doi:10.2307/1377723 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1377723) .
JSTOR 1377723 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1377723) .
35. Morgart, J. R. (May 1985). "Carnivorous behavior by a white-tailed antelope ground squirrel
Ammospermophilus leucurus". The Southwestern Naturalist. 30 (2): 304–305. doi:10.2307/3670745 (ht
tps://doi.org/10.2307%2F3670745) . JSTOR 3670745 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3670745) .
36. Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (2011). "Class Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal
biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (http://mapress.c
om/zootaxa/2011/f/zt03148p060.pdf) (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 56–60.
doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.9 (https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fzootaxa.3148.1.9) .
37. Emry, R. J.; Korth, W. W. (2007). "A new genus of squirrel (Rodentia, Sciuridae) from the mid-Cenozoic of
North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (3): 693–698. doi:10.1671/0272-
4634(2007)27[693:ANGOSR]2.0.CO;2 (https://doi.org/10.1671%2F0272-4634%282007%2927%5B693%
3AANGOSR%5D2.0.CO%3B2) .
40. Goud, Naveen (18 January 2017). "Squirrels cause more financial damage to critical Infrastructure than
Cyber Attacks" (https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/squirrels-cause-more-financial-damage-to-critic
al-infrastructure-than-cyber-attacks/) . Cybersecurity Insiders. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
Further reading
Milt on, Kat herine (1984): "Family Sciuridae". In: Macdonald, D. (ed.): The Encyclopedia of
Mammals: 612–623. Fact s on File, New York. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
St eppan, Scot t J. and Hamm, Shawn M. (2006): Tree of Life Web Project – "Sciuridae
(Squirrels)" (ht t p://t olweb.org/Sciuridae/16456/2006.05.13) . Version of 13 May 2006.
Ret rieved 10 December 2007.
St eppan, S. J.; St orz, B. L.; Hoffmann, R. S. (2004). "Nuclear DNA phylogeny of t he squirrels
(Mammalia: Rodent ia) and t he evolut ion of arborealit y from c-myc and RAG1". Molecular
Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30 (3): 703–719. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00204-5 (ht t ps://d
oi.org/10.1016%2FS1055-7903%2803%2900204-5) . PMID 15012949 (ht t ps://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/15012949) .
Thoringt on, R.W. and Hoffmann, R.S. (2005): "Family Sciuridae". In: Mammal Species of the
World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference: 754–818. Johns Hopkins Universit y Press,
Balt imore.
Whit aker, John O. Jr. and Elman, Robert (1980): The Audubon Society Field Guide to North
American Mammals (2nd ed.). Alfred Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-394-50762-2
External links
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