Mountain ground squirrel

Mountain ground squirrel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Geosciurus
Species:
G. princeps
Binomial name
Geosciurus princeps
(Thomas, 1929)
Synonyms

Xerus princeps

The mountain ground squirrel (Geosciurus princeps)[2] is a rodent that is native to southwestern Angola, western Namibia, and western South Africa.[3] It is also known as the Kaoko ground squirrel or the Damara ground squirrel.

It is the closest relative of the Cape ground squirrel[4] (Latin name Geosciurus inauris), which is so similar in appearance that the two are difficult to distinguish in the field.[5] Both species have long bushy black and white tails with a white stripe from the shoulder towards the rump. Geosciurus princeps is slightly larger, on average, than G. inauris, although there is considerable overlap in body size. Differences in skull morphology also distinguish the two species,[6] and the incisors are yellow to orange rather than white as in G. inauris.[6][7]

  1. ^ Griffin, M. & Coetzee, N. (2008). "Xerus princeps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  3. ^ Waterman JM, Herron MD (2004). "Xerus princeps". Mammalian Species. 751: 1–3. doi:10.1644/751.
  4. ^ Herron MD, Waterman JM, Parkinson CL (2005). "Phylogeny and historical biogeography of African ground squirrels: the role of climate change in the evolution of Xerus". Molecular Ecology. 14 (9): 2773–2788. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02630.x. PMID 16029477. S2CID 35874572.
  5. ^ Herzig-Straschil B, Herzig A (1989). "Biology of Xerus princeps (Rodentia, Sciuridae)". Madoqua. 16: 41–46.
  6. ^ a b Herzig-Straschil B, Herzig A, Winkler H (1991). "A morphometric analysis of the skulls of Xerus inauris and Xerus princeps (Rodentia; Sciuridae)". Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 56: 177–187.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thomas1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).