Long-tailed ground squirrel

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Long-tailed ground squirrel

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Urocitellus
Species:	U. undulatus
Binomial name
*Urocitellus undulatus* (Pallas, 1778)
Synonyms
Arctomys altaicus Citellus eversmanni Citellus undulatus Spermophilus undulatus

The long-tailed ground squirrel or Eversmann's souslik (Urocitellus undulatus) is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae.^[2] It is found in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia.^[1]

Description

The long-tailed ground squirrel has a compact, low-slung body, short legs and a long bushy tail.^[3] The body length reaches up to 315 millimetres (12.4 in) and the tail 160 millimetres (6.3 in). The back is brown with a linear pattern of dark, small spots. The underparts are a paler ochre-brown with a reddish tinge along the side. The tail is barred in brown and black with a prominent light edge stripe and a pale tip.^[2]

Distribution and range

This species is found in submontane steppes up to 3,100 metres (10,200 ft), plains, meadows, the edges of pine forests and birch woods, clearings and agricultural land^[2] from Southern Siberia and Altai (Russia) to Manchuria. There are two isolated populations in Eastern Siberia, one in southeastern Yakutia and the other in the south of the Amur region. It also occurs in Mongolia and in the northwestern and northeastern parts of China.^[1]

Behavior

The long-tailed ground squirrel lives in colonies with a labyrinth of burrows. In light sandy soils these are up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep with a single entrance hole surrounded by a large mound of soil up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter. The underground passages extend up to 15 metres (49 ft). In heavier clay soils, the holes are about 2 metres (6.6 ft) deep, stretch 5–7 metres (16–23 ft) and have several entrances. The animals awake from hibernation in March and the young are born about a month later. There are usually five to eight young in a brood. Activity is concentrated in the early morning and then again in the afternoon and evening, the animals retiring to their burrows in the middle of the day. The diet consists of green vegetation, seeds, insects,^[1] bulbs and roots. Before hibernation begins in October, up to 6 kilograms (13 lb) of vegetation and grain are stored in the burrows.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cassola, F. (2016). "Urocitellus undulatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T20494A22264197. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T20494A22264197.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d AgroAtlas
^ "ARKive". Archived from the original on 2010-10-21. Retrieved 2010-11-30.

External links

Media related to Urocitellus undulatus at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Living species of tribe Marmotini (ground squirrels)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Sciuromorpha Family: Sciuridae Subfamily: Xerinae
Ammospermophilus (antelope squirrels)	Harris's antelope squirrel (A. harrisii) Espíritu Santo antelope squirrel (A. insularis) Texas antelope squirrel (A. interpres) White-tailed antelope squirrel (A. leucurus) San Joaquin antelope squirrel (A. nelsoni)
Callospermophilus (golden-mantled ground squirrels)	Golden-mantled ground squirrel (C. lateralis) Sierra Madre ground squirrel (C. madrensis) Cascade golden-mantled ground squirrel (C. saturatus)
Cynomys (prairie dogs)	Gunnison's prairie dog (C. gunnisoni) White-tailed prairie dog (C. leucurus) Black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) Mexican prairie dog (C. mexicanus) Utah prairie dog (C. parvidens)
Eutamias	Siberian chipmunk (E. sibiricus)
Ictidomys (little ground squirrels)	Mexican ground squirrel (I. mexicanus) Rio Grande ground squirrel (I. parvidens) Thirteen-lined ground squirrel (I. tridecemlineatus)
Marmota (marmots)	Subgenus Marmota: Gray marmot (M. baibacina) Bobak marmot (M. bobak) Alaska marmot (M. broweri) Black-capped marmot (M. camtschatica) Long-tailed marmot (M. caudata) Himalayan marmot (M. himalayana) Alpine marmot (M. marmota) Menzbier's marmot (M. menzbieri) Groundhog or woodchuck (M. monax) Tarbagan marmot (M. sibirica) Subgenus Petromarmota: Hoary marmot (M. caligata) Yellow-bellied marmot (M. flaviventris) Olympic marmot (M. olympus) Vancouver Island marmot (M. vancouverensis)
Neotamias (western chipmunks)	Alpine chipmunk (N. alpinus) Yellow-pine chipmunk (N. amoenus) Buller's chipmunk (N. bulleri) Gray-footed chipmunk (N. canipes) Gray-collared chipmunk (N. cinereicollis) Cliff chipmunk (N. dorsalis) Durango chipmunk (N. durangae) Merriam's chipmunk (N. merriami) Least chipmunk (N. minimus) California chipmunk (N. obscurus) Yellow-cheeked chipmunk (N. ochrogenys) Palmer's chipmunk (N. palmeri) Panamint chipmunk (N. panamintinus) Long-eared chipmunk (N. quadrimaculatus) Colorado chipmunk (N. quadrivittatus) Red-tailed chipmunk (N. ruficaudus) Hopi chipmunk (N. rufus) Allen's chipmunk (N. senex) Siskiyou chipmunk (N. siskiyou) Sonoma chipmunk (N. sonomae) Lodgepole chipmunk (N. speciosus) Townsend's chipmunk (N. townsendii) Uinta chipmunk (N. umbrinus)
Notocitellus	Tropical ground squirrel (N. adocetus) Ring-tailed ground squirrel (N. annulatus)
Otospermophilus (rock squirrels)	Baja California rock squirrel (O. atricapillus) California ground squirrel (O. beecheyi) Rock squirrel (O. variegatus)
Poliocitellus	Franklin's ground squirrel (P. franklinii)
Sciurotamias (Asian rock squirrels)	Père David's rock squirrel (S. davidianus) Forrest's rock squirrel (S. forresti)
Spermophilus sensu stricto (Old World ground squirrels)	Alashan ground squirrel (S. alashanicus) Brandt’s ground squirrel (S. brevicauda) European ground squirrel (S. citellus) Daurian ground squirrel (S. dauricus) Red-cheeked ground squirrel (S. erythrogenys) Yellow ground squirrel (S. fulvus) Russet ground squirrel (S. major) Caucasian mountain ground squirrel (S. musicus) Tian Shan ground squirrel (S. nilkaensis) Pallid ground squirrel (S. pallidicauda) Little ground squirrel (S. pygmaeus) Relict ground squirrel (S. relictus) Speckled ground squirrel (Spermophilus suslicus) Taurus ground squirrel (Spermophilus taurensis) Asia Minor ground squirrel (Spermophilus xanthoprymnus)
Tamias	Eastern chipmunk (T. striatus)
Urocitellus (Holarctic ground squirrels)	Uinta ground squirrel (U. armatus) Belding's ground squirrel (U. beldingi) Northern Idaho ground squirrel (U. brunneus) Merriam's ground squirrel (U. canus) Columbian ground squirrel (U. columbianus) Wyoming ground squirrel (U. elegans) Southern Idaho ground squirrel (U. endemicus) Piute ground squirrel (U. mollis) Arctic ground squirrel (U. parryii) Richardson's ground squirrel (U. richardsonii) Townsend's ground squirrel (U. townsendii) Long-tailed ground squirrel (U. undulatus) Washington ground squirrel (U. washingtoni)
Xerospermophilus (pygmy ground squirrels)	Mohave ground squirrel (X. mohavensis) Perote ground squirrel (X. perotensis) Spotted ground squirrel (X. spilosoma) Round-tailed ground squirrel (X. tereticaudus)
Category

Taxon identifiers
Spermophilus undulatus	Wikidata: Q1763717 BioLib: 35114 CoL: 4YKBH GBIF: 2437312 IRMNG: 10909963 ITIS: 632457 MSW: 12401113 Paleobiology Database: 51725
Urocitellus undulatus	Wikidata: Q21730559 Wikispecies: Urocitellus undulatus BOLD: 741553 CoL: 7DTRV GBIF: 7522906 iNaturalist: 180004 ITIS: 930324 IUCN: 20494 MDD: 1001796 NCBI: 99867 Open Tree of Life: 595759

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