White-tailed antelope squirrel

White-tailed antelope squirrel
White-tailed Antelope Squirrel in Southern Utah
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Ammospermophilus
Species: A. leucurus
Binomial name
Ammospermophilus leucurus
(Merriam, 1889)
The Distribution of the White-tailed Antelope Squirrel

The white-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) is a diurnal species of ground squirrel found in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is omnivorous, feeding primarily on foliage (10%-60% of its diet), seeds (20%-50%), arthropods, and to a lesser extent, vertebrates (mainly lizards and rodents; predatory behavior by ground squirrels has been noted[2][3][4][5]).[6] This species of squirrel has an average home range of 14.9 acres (60,000 m2), and utilizes approximately 4 acres (16,000 m2) in its daily activities.[7]

References

  1. ^ Linzey, A. V., Timm, R., Álvarez-Castañeda, S. T., Castro-Arellano, I. & Lacher, T. (2008). Ammospermophilus leucurus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 January 2009.
  2. ^ Green, M. M. (1925). Notes on some mammals of Montmorency County, Michigan. J. Mamm., 6: 173-178.
  3. ^ Bailey, B. (1923). Meat-eating propensities of some rodents of Minnesota. J. Mamm., 4: 129.
  4. ^ Johnson, A. M. (1922). An observation of the carnivorous propensities of the gray gopher. J. Mamm., 3: 187.
  5. ^ Bridgwater, D. D., and Penny, D.F. (1966). Predation by Citellus tridecemlineatus on other vertebrates. J. Mamm., 47: 345-346.
  6. ^ Bradley W. G. (1968). Food habits of the antelope ground squirrel in southern Nevada. Journal Of Mammalogy, 49:14–21
  7. ^ Bradley, W.G. and J.E. Deacon (1965). "The biotic communities of southern Nevada," Univ. Nevada, Desert Research Institute Preprint, 9: 1-74 plus indices.