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Xerini - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Xerini Temporal range: Early Oligocene - Recent

Unstriped ground squirrel (Xerus rutilus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Subfamily:	Xerinae
Tribe:	Xerini Osborn, 1910
Genera
Atlantoxerus Euxerus Geosciurus Xerus Spermophilopsis

Xerini is a tribe of ground squirrels occurring in Africa and Asia. With the tribes Marmotini (Holarctic ground squirrels) and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels), they form the subfamily Xerinae. There are five living genera—Xerus, the unstriped ground squirrel; Euxerus, the striped ground squirrel; Geosciurus, the Cape and mountain ground squirrels; Atlantoxerus, containing the living Barbary ground squirrel of North Africa and some extinct species; and Spermophilopsis, containing the long-clawed ground squirrel of Central Asia.

The squirrels live in open woodlands, grasslands, or rocky country. They are diurnal and terrestrial, living in burrows. Their diet is roots, seeds, fruits, pods, grains, insects, small vertebrates and bird eggs. They live in colonies similar to North American prairie dogs, and have similar behavior. If kept as pets, they run free as house cats do, otherwise farmers consider them pests. Breeding in South African ground squirrels is asynchronous and there is no specific period of breeding although very few litters are seen above the ground in the months of July to October. Gestation period lasts for 48 days and the young ones are weaned after 52 days. There are one to three babies per litter. A female becomes sexually mature when she is 10 months old and a male matures at the age of 8 months. Although a female has the capability to breed throughout the year, less than 10% reproduce more than one litter in a year.

The South African ground squirrel does not hibernate. These squirrels are very social and live in groups with about 1 to 3 females and 2 to 3 males. Sometimes, the number of males can exceed up to 9 with some sub-adult females. An interesting thing about this breed is that mature males like to form their own groups and there can be 19 to 20 individuals in one group. These groups are called bands.

Their home range is shared with other groups which is actually quite a surprising thing, since in case of most of the mammals there is generally an extremely tough competition to get the female. The group-living instinct of this species gives it a survival opportunity from predators overweighing the disadvantage of breeding opportunities which come from competition.

Species

Extant species

Genus Atlantoxerus
- Barbary ground squirrel, Atlantoxerus getulus
Genus Euxerus
- Striped ground squirrel, Euxerus erythropus
Genus Geosciurus
- Cape ground squirrel, Geosciurus inauris
- Mountain ground squirrel, Geosciurus princeps
Genus Xerus
- Unstriped ground squirrel, Xerus rutilus
Genus Spermophilopsis
- Long-clawed ground squirrel, Spermophilopsis leptodactylus

Fossil species

Genus Heteroxerus
- †Heteroxerus grivensis
Genus Aragoxerus
- †Aragoxerus ignis

References

Thorington, R.W. Jr. and Hoffmann, R.S. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Pp. 754–818 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0

Extant species of family Sciuridae (subfamily Xerinae)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Sciuromorpha

Xerini

Atlantoxerus	Barbary ground squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus)
Spermophilopsis	Long-clawed ground squirrel (Spermophilopsis leptodactylus)
Xerus (African ground squirrels)	Subgenus Euxerus: Striped ground squirrel (Xerus erythropus) Subgenus Geosciurus: Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris) Mountain ground squirrel (Xerus princeps) Subgenus Xerus: Unstriped ground squirrel (Xerus rutilus)

Protoxerini

Epixerus	Ebian's palm squirrel (Epixerus ebii)
Funisciurus (African striped squirrels)	Thomas's rope squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus) Lunda rope squirrel (Funisciurus bayonii) Carruther's mountain squirrel (Funisciurus carruthersi) Congo rope squirrel (Funisciurus congicus) Lady Burton's rope squirrel (Funisciurus isabella) Ribboned rope squirrel (Funisciurus lemniscatus) Red-cheeked rope squirrel (Funisciurus leucogenys) Fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus) Kintampo rope squirrel (Funisciurus substriatus)
Heliosciurus (sun squirrels)	Gambian sun squirrel (Heliosciurus gambianus) Mutable sun squirrel (Heliosciurus mutabilis) Small sun squirrel (Heliosciurus punctatus) Red-legged sun squirrel (Heliosciurus rufobrachium) Ruwenzori sun squirrel (Heliosciurus ruwenzorii) Zanj sun squirrel (Heliosciurus undulatus)
Myosciurus	African pygmy squirrel (Myosciurus pumilio)
Paraxerus (African bush squirrels)	Alexander's bush squirrel (Paraxerus alexandri) Boehm's bush squirrel (Paraxerus boehmi) Smith's bush squirrel (Paraxerus cepapi) Cooper's mountain squirrel (Paraxerus cooperi) Striped bush squirrel (Paraxerus flavovittis) African red bush squirrel (Paraxerus lucifer) Ochre bush squirrel (Paraxerus ochraceus) Red bush squirrel (Paraxerus palliatus) Green bush squirrel (Paraxerus poensis) Swynnerton's bush squirrel (Paraxerus vexillarius) Vincent's bush squirrel (Paraxerus vincenti)
Protoxerus (African giant squirrels)	Slender-tailed squirrel (Protoxerus aubinnii) Forest giant squirrel (Protoxerus stangeri)

Marmotini
(ground squirrels)

Large tribe listed separately

Category

Taxon identifiers
Xerini	Wikidata: Q894233 Wikispecies: Xerini CoL: 628H4 EoL: 10514432 iNaturalist: 339574 ITIS: 930210 MSW: 12400697 NCBI: 337729 Open Tree of Life: 325274 Paleobiology Database: 92503

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