Euxerus
1 species
The subgenus Euxerus is possible monotypic taxon with a single species - Euxerus erythropus
The striped ground squirrel (Euxerus erythropus) is a species of squirrel native to Africa. It was first described by Geoffroy in 1803, but the original publication may be unavailable, so that the binomial authority is today more often cited as "Desmarest, 1817". There are six subspecies. It is a moderately large ground squirrel with sandy-brown or dark-brown fur with a white lateral stripe and whitish underparts. Adults live alone or in pairs in a simple burrow with a central nest, foraging, mostly on the ground, for seeds, nuts and roots, and caching excess food under stones. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Striped ground squirrels are found across Africa south of the Sahara and north of the tropical rainforest. They are found from the Atlantic coast in the west to Ethiopia and Kenya in the east, being absent in the Horn of Africa. They inhabit open or disturbed forests and savannah country, often near cultivated land, and, at the extremes of their range, coastal scrubland and semidesert regions. Fossils attributed to the species have been identified from Pliocene Ethiopia.
- Euxerus erythropus erythropus - West Africa, from Mauritania to the Central African Republic, small relict population in Souss plains of Morocco
- E. e. chadensis - eastern Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, southern Chad, and central western Sudan
- E. e. lacustris - northern Congo
- E. e. leucombrinus - eastern Uganda, southeastern Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and northern Kenya
- E. e. limitaneus - southwestern Sudan, and neighbouring parts of Chad and the Central African Republic
- E. e. microdon - southern Kenya
The subgenus Euxerus is possible monotypic taxon with a single species - Euxerus erythropus
The striped ground squirrel (Euxerus erythropus) is a species of squirrel native to Africa. It was first described by Geoffroy in 1803, but the original publication may be unavailable, so that the binomial authority is today more often cited as "Desmarest, 1817". There are six subspecies. It is a moderately large ground squirrel with sandy-brown or dark-brown fur with a white lateral stripe and whitish underparts. Adults live alone or in pairs in a simple burrow with a central nest, foraging, mostly on the ground, for seeds, nuts and roots, and caching excess food under stones. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Striped ground squirrels are found across Africa south of the Sahara and north of the tropical rainforest. They are found from the Atlantic coast in the west to Ethiopia and Kenya in the east, being absent in the Horn of Africa. They inhabit open or disturbed forests and savannah country, often near cultivated land, and, at the extremes of their range, coastal scrubland and semidesert regions. Fossils attributed to the species have been identified from Pliocene Ethiopia.
- Euxerus erythropus erythropus - West Africa, from Mauritania to the Central African Republic, small relict population in Souss plains of Morocco
- E. e. chadensis - eastern Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, southern Chad, and central western Sudan
- E. e. lacustris - northern Congo
- E. e. leucombrinus - eastern Uganda, southeastern Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and northern Kenya
- E. e. limitaneus - southwestern Sudan, and neighbouring parts of Chad and the Central African Republic
- E. e. microdon - southern Kenya