Urocitellus Explained

Urocitellus is a genus of ground squirrels. They were previously believed to belong to the much larger genus Spermophilus, but DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene showed that this group was paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots,^[1] and could therefore no longer be retained as a single genus. As a result, Urocitellus is now considered as a genus in its own right.^[2]

All but two species are native to the northern and western parts of North America, from California and Minnesota through the north-western United States and western Canada; the Arctic ground squirrel inhabits Arctic terrain on both sides of the Bering Strait, while the long-tailed ground squirrel is exclusively found in Asia. The name of the genus is said to be derived from the Latin uro, meaning "tail" and citellus for "ground squirrel".^[2] The proper word for "tail" in classical Latin is cauda.^[3] Oura (οὐρά) is the ancient Greek word for "tail".^[4]

Species

Thirteen species are currently identified:

Genus Urocitellus

• Uinta ground squirrel, Urocitellus armatus
• Belding's ground squirrel, Urocitellus beldingi
• Northern Idaho ground squirrel, Urocitellus brunneus
• Merriam's ground squirrel, Urocitellus canus
• Columbian ground squirrel, Urocitellus columbianus
• Wyoming ground squirrel, Urocitellus elegans
• Southern Idaho ground squirrel, Urocitellus endemicus
• Piute ground squirrel, Urocitellus mollis
• Arctic ground squirrel, Urocitellus parryii
• Richardson's ground squirrel, Urocitellus richardsonii
• Townsend's ground squirrel, Urocitellus townsendii
• Long-tailed ground squirrel, Urocitellus undulatus
• Washington ground squirrel, Urocitellus washingtoni

Notes and References

1. Matthew D. . Herron. Todd A. . Castoe. Christopher L. . Parkinson. 2004. Sciurid phylogeny and the paraphyly of Holarctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 31. 10.1016/j.ympev.2003.09.015. 3 . 15120398 . 1015–30.
2. Helgen, Kristofer M.. Cole, F. Russel. Helgen, Lauren E.. Wilson, Don E. amp. 2009. Generic Revision in the Holarctic Ground Squirrel Genus Spermophilus. Journal of Mammalogy. 90. 2. 270–305. 10.1644/07-MAMM-A-309.1. https://web.archive.org/web/20120415053531/http://www.mammalsociety.org/uploads/Helgen%20et%20al%202009.pdf. 15 April 2012. 25 February 2016. dead. dmy-all. free.
3. Lewis, C.T. & Short, C. (1879). A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
4. Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press.