Sciurinae is a subfamily of squirrels, uniting the flying squirrels with certain related tree squirrels. Older sources place the flying squirrels in a separate subfamily (Pteromyinae) and unite all remaining sciurids into the subfamily Sciurinae, but this has been strongly refuted by genetic studies.
The eastern gray squirrel, also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator. Widely introduced to certain places around the world, the eastern gray squirrel in Europe, in particular, is regarded as an invasive species.
The fox squirrel, also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, it is sometimes mistaken for American red squirrels or eastern gray squirrels in areas where the species co-exist.
The American red squirrel is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus, known as the pine squirrels. The American red squirrel is variously known as the pine squirrel or piney squirrel, North American red squirrel, chickaree, boomer, or simply red squirrel. The squirrel is a small, 200–250 g (7.1–8.8 oz), diurnal mammal that defends a year-round exclusive territory. It feeds primarily on the seeds of conifer cones, and is widely distributed across much of the United States and Canada wherever conifers are common, except in the southwestern United States, where it is replaced by the formerly conspecific southwestern red squirrel, and along the Pacific coast of the United States, where its cousin the Douglas squirrel is found instead.
The genus Sciurus contains most of the common, bushy-tailed squirrels in North America, Europe, temperate Asia, Central America and South America.
Abert's squirrel or the tassel-eared squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the southern Rocky Mountains from the United States to the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, with concentrations found in Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. It is closely associated with, and largely confined to, mature ponderosa pine forests. It is named in honor of the American naturalist John James Abert; nine subspecies are recognised. It is recognizable by its tufted ears, gray color, pale underparts and rufous patch on the lower back. The squirrel feeds on the seeds and cones of the Mexican pinyon and the ponderosa pine when they are available, but will also take fungi, buds, bark, and carrion. Breeding normally occurs in summer, with a spherical nest being built high in the canopy.
The Amazon dwarf squirrel is a chipmunk-sized tree squirrel native to South America.
The brush mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in mountainous areas of Mexico and the western United States at altitudes over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
The Mexican gray squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to Guatemala and eastern and southern Mexico. It has been introduced to the Florida Keys.
The common yellow-toothed cavy is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae, closely related to the domesticated guinea pig. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its karyotype has 2n = 68 and FN = 136. G. musteloides is the most common and widely found member of Galea, and is present at elevations ranging from 20 to 5000 m above sea level. It has yellow teeth.
The Santander dwarf squirrel is a small tree squirrel endemic to Colombia.
Deppe's squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
The Mexican fox squirrel is a species of tree squirrel found throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico as far south as Jalisco — and northward into the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, U.S.
Richmond's squirrel is a poorly known tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus endemic to Nicaragua, which is likely a synonym of the red-tailed squirrel. It is locally known as the ardilla del rama.
The tropical ground squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. At one time the species was originally described as Spermophilus adocetus, but the genus Spermophilus was revised and subdivided in 2009 and it was placed in the genus Notocitellus. It is endemic to arid upland areas and deciduous woodland in Mexico. It is locally referred to as Cuinique.
The Mexican ground squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. One of its closest relatives is the thirteen-lined ground squirrel.
The rock squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is native to Mexico and the Southwestern United States, including southern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and the panhandle of Oklahoma.
Mearns's squirrel is a subspecies of the Douglas squirrel endemic to Mexico. It is endangered and occurs in low densities, and is threatened by habitat loss. It is possibly also threatened by competition from the eastern gray squirrel, which was introduced to the range of Mearns's squirrel in 1946, but may not be present anymore. It is closely related to other subspecies of the Douglas squirrel, but far less is known about its behavior, which was first studied in detail in 2004. It is named for the 19th-century American naturalist Edgar Mearns.
John L. Koprowski, Dean and Professor, Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, mammalogist, conservation biologist, and leading expert on the ecology and conservation of wildlife, especially squirrels, was born in 1961 in Lakewood, Ohio.
Sherman's fox squirrel is a subspecies of the fox squirrel. It lives in the U.S. states of Florida and Georgia in fire-prone areas of longleaf pine and wiregrass, especially around sandhills. A tree squirrel, Sherman's fox squirrel has lost much of its habitat to farming and development. This type of squirrel nests in oak trees using leaves and Spanish moss.
