Uinta ground squirrel
| Uinta ground squirrel | ||||||||||||
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Uinta ground squirrel ( Urocitellus armatus ) |
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| Urocitellus armatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Kennicott , 1863) |
The or Uinta ground squirrel ( Urocitellus armatus , Syn. : Spermophilus armatus , English: Uinta ground squirrel ), is indigenous to North America ground squirrels from the genus of the ground squirrel .
features
When fully grown, the Uinta ground squirrel is approx. 30 cm long and weighs 200 to 300 g. Typical are the grayish back and torso with fine white dots on the back; The nose and shoulders are brownish to cinnamon brown. The tail has a grayish underside.
habitat
It is found in Wyoming , Idaho and Montana and partly also in Utah in disturbed or heavily grazed grasslands, in mugwort and mountain meadows up to 3,300 m.
Way of life
The Uinta ground squirrel is diurnal, lives mostly in larger colonies in earthworks and hibernates . It feeds on grass, herbaceous plants, mushrooms, insects, and carrion (including animals of its own kind).
Enemies
Natural enemies include coyotes , silver badgers , long-tailed weasels , bobcats, various birds of prey and the grassland rattlesnake .
Systematics
The Uinta ground squirrel is a species of the genus Urocitellus within the ground squirrel . It was first described in 1863 by Robert Kennicott as Spermophilus armatus . The species has long been classified as part of the ground squirrel and within the subgenus Urocitellus , but after a comprehensive molecular biological investigation this was considered as an independent genus together with several other genera.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b 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. 349-350 .
- ^ Robert Kennicott: Descriptions of four new species of Spermophilus, in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Proceedings, 1863; Pp. 157-158. ( Digitized version )
- ↑ Matthew D. Herron, Todd A. Castoe, Christopher L. Parkinson: Sciurid phylogeny and the paraphyly of holarctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31, 2004; Pp. 1015-1030. ( Full text , PMID 15120398 )
- ↑ Kristofer M. Helgen, F. Russell Cole, Lauren E. Helgen, Don E. Wilson: Generic Revision in the holarctic ground squirrels genus Spermophilus. Journal of Mammalogy 90 (2), 2009; Pp. 270-305. doi : 10.1644 / 07-MAMM-A-309.1
Web links
- Uinta Ground Squirrel page
- Urocitellus armatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Linzey, AV & NatureServe (Hammerson, G.), 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2013.