Allen's croissant

Allen's croissant
Systematics
Subordination :	Squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha)
Family :	Squirrel (Sciuridae)
Subfamily :	Tree squirrel and flying squirrel (Sciurinae)
Tribe :	Tree squirrel (Sciurini)
Genre :	Red squirrel ( Sciurus )
Type :	Allen's croissant
Scientific name
	Sciurus alleni
	( Nelson , 1898)

Allen's squirrel ( Sciurus alleni ) is a species of squirrel ( Sciurus ). It is common in northern Mexico .

features

Allen's croissant reaches a head-torso length of about 22 to 25.4 centimeters with a weight of about 290 to 510 grams. The tail becomes 21.7 to 24.7 inches long and is thus about as long as the rest of the body. The back coloration of the animals is yellow-brown, interspersed with black and gray tones. The head is usually darker, the sides of the body are lighter than the back, and the side of the abdomen is white. A white or sand-colored eye ring is formed around the eyes. The legs are also white or sand-colored, interspersed with black on top. The tail is black, partly with a yellowish or sand-colored wash and frosted white. Melanism , i.e. completely black animals, can also occur within the species .

distribution

Allen's croissant is common in northern Mexico , where it occurs in southwest Coahuila via Nuevo León to western Tamaulipas and the extreme north of San Luis Potosi . The height distribution ranges from 600 to about 2550 meters.

Way of life

Allen's croissant lives mainly in oak and pine-oak forests in the mountain region, but also uses similar habitats down to the plains. The animals are diurnal and move around both in the foliage and on the ground. They feed on herbivores mainly of seeds and fruits of the forest, but had also peanuts, corn, grains, vegetables and fruits from the agricultural cultivation, they can thereby cause in fields greater damage. In addition, they eat insect larvae, insects and also small vertebrates (amphibians).

The breeding season is all year round, the litter consists of one to four young animals. The nests are built in tree hollows or in branches from plant material.

Systematics

Allen's squirrel is classified as a separate species within the genus of squirrels ( Sciurus ), which consists of almost 30 species. The first scientific description comes from Edward William Nelson from 1898, who described the species using individuals from Monterrey in the Mexican state of Nuevo León . He named the species after the American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen . Due to features of the hyoid bone , the species was partially assigned to the subgenus Parasciurus . Due to the similarity to Peters' squirrel ( S. oculatus ) it was partly also considered a subspecies of the same.

Apart from the nominate form, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .

Status, threat and protection

Allen's croissant is classified as “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified by the relatively large distribution area, the assumed high population figures and the occurrence in several protected areas. The main threat to the species comes from increasing deforestation through logging and slash-and- burn and the conversion of habitats into agricultural areas in their area of distribution. According to estimates, populations have declined by 13 to 23% in the last 15 years.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 40-41 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sciurus alleni in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.1. Posted by: PC de Grammont, A. Cuarón, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Sciurus allani . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
^ ^A ^b Troy L. Best : Myotis chiloensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) . In: Mammalian Species . tape 501 , 1995, pp. 1–4 ( full text (PDF)).
↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; Pp. 8-9; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 ( Google Books )

literature

Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 40-41 .
Troy L. Best : Myotis chiloensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) . In: Mammalian Species . tape 501 , 1995, pp. 1–4 ( full text (PDF)).

Web links

Commons : Allen's croissant - collection of images, videos and audio files

Sciurus alleni inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.1. Posted by: PC de Grammont, A. Cuarón, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2015.

[Thorington_et_al._2012-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 40-41 .