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They do not form a single natural, or monophyletic, group; they are variously related to others in the squirrel family, including ground squirrels, flying squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks. The defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on their habitat rather than their physiology.
Ground squirrels are rodents of the squirrel family that generally live on the ground or in burrows, rather than in trees like the tree squirrels.The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots (genus Marmota) or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks (genus ...
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (/ s ɪ ˈ j uː r ɪ d eɪ,-d iː /), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents.The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels.
The Xerinae comprise a subfamily of squirrels, many of which are highly terrestrial.It includes the tribes Marmotini (marmots, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and other Holarctic ground squirrels), Xerini (African and some Eurasian ground squirrels), and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels).
In addition, squirrels may inhabit a permanent tree den hollowed out in the trunk or a large branch of a tree. [40] Eastern gray squirrels are crepuscular, [24] or more active during the early and late hours of the day, and tend to avoid the heat in the middle of a summer day. [40] They do not hibernate. [41]
Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus) fall within the clade that includes flying squirrels and other tree squirrels (e.g., Sciurus). [6] There are 25 recognized subspecies of the American red squirrel. [7] The southwestern red squirrel (T. fremonti) was long considered conspecific with T. hudsonicus, but a 2016 phylogenetic study found it to be a ...
Mearns's squirrel is a distinctive subspecies of the Douglas squirrel that instead inhabits xeric pine forests in a small portion of Baja California. [6] Throughout most their range, Douglas squirrels essentially replace the niche of the American red squirrel, which inhabits the coniferous forests of the rest of North America. The two species ...
The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) is a tree squirrel found along the western coast of the United States and Mexico. In some places, this species has also been known as the silver-gray squirrel , the California gray squirrel , the Oregon gray squirrel , the Columbian gray squirrel and the banner-tail .