Spermophilus fulvus
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Sciuridae
Spermophilus
Spermophilus fulvus

description: 230. Yellow Ground Squirrel <i>Spermophilus fulvus</i> <b>French:</b> Spermophile jaune / <b>German:</b> Gelbziesel / <b>Spanish:</b> Ardilla de tierra amarilla <b>Other common names:</b> Long-toothed Ground Squirrel, Long-toothed Souslik <b>Taxonomy.</b> Arctomys fulvus Lichtenstein, 1823, “Flusse Kuwandschur [= Kuvandzhur River].” Restricted by S. I. Ognev in 1963 to east of Mugodzhary Mountains, north of Aral Sea, Kazakhstan. Spermophilus fulvus is known to hybridize with S. major. Three subspecies recognized. <b>Subspecies and Distribution.</b> S.f.fulvusLichtenstein,1823—RussiaEofVolgaRiverandS&amp;CKazakhstan. S.f.hypoleucosSatunin,1909—NW&amp;NEIranandNWAfghanistan. S. f. oxianus Thomas, 1915 — S portion of range to include Uzbekistan, W Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan; however, subspecies are not well defined. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body mean 284-3 mm (males) and 224 mm (females), tail mean 85-4 mm (males) and 71-4 mm (females); weight 0-29-11 kg (males) and 273-744 g (females). The Yellow Ground Squirrel is large-bodied (males may reach 2 kg before hibernation), with prominent incisors. Dorsal pelage has brownish gold guard hairs and ash-gray underfur. Head and legs are often suffused with gray. Eye rings are straw yellow. Venter is whitish to buff. Tail is more robust than most congeners and is golden brown to yellow. Nominate fulvus has buff venter, whereas hypoleucos has a white underside; oxianus is diminutive. Chromosome number is 2n = 36. <b>Habitat.</b> Semi-desert and desert arid grasslands, sometimes extending into open arid forests. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The Yellow Ground Squirrel is an herbivore, feeding mostly on bulbs, tubers, leaves, and shoots of desert grasses and forbs. It occasionally eats insects or scavenges animal matter. <b>Breeding.</b> The Yellow Ground Squirrel inhabits burrows with a vegetation-lined nest chamber in which young are born. Males appear to emerge slightly before females in spring. Individuals mate soon after emergence when male-female pairs enter burrows to copulate. Litters of 1-10 young are produced and emerge after c¢.50 days, weighing just under 200 g. Young grow quickly and disperse at ¢.500 g and can reproduce as yearlings; maximum adult body mass is reached by the end of the second year. More female yearlings reproduce than males. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Yellow Ground Squirrels are diurnal and active aboveground in late spring, usually March-April. They are obligate hibernators in burrows, beginning in late July to September for adults and September or Octoberforjuveniles. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> The Yellow Ground Squirrel lives in loose low-density colonies (3-10 ind/ha). It is territorial and defends a large area around a single burrow; adult male home ranges are c.3 ha. Females are philopatric and form kin clusters and matrilines that share space. High-pitched vocalizations are commonly produced from colonies. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Population trend of the Yellow Ground Squirrel is unknown. Challenges to conservation are likely related to commercial hunting for food or pelts, but hunting pressure is believed to be low. It is known to carry sylvatic plague and is sometimes killed for this reason. It is locally common and widespread. <b>Bibliography.</b> Bertolino (2009), Ermakov et al. (2002), Gage &amp; Kosoy (2005), Herron et al. (2004), Kashkarov &amp; Lein (1927), Ognev (1963), Ozkurt et al. (2007), Thorington et al. (2012), Tsytsulina, Formozov &amp; Sheftel (2008), Vasilieva &amp; Tchabovsky (2014), Vasilieva et al. (2014), Wilber et al. (1998).
description: Published as part of <i>Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr &amp; Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Sciuridae, pp. 648-837 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 812, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6840226