Spermophilus brevicauda, Brandt, 1843
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6819018 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FFA7-ED5B-FA19-F368FA89F290 |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Spermophilus brevicauda |
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Brandt's Ground Squirrel
Spermophilus brevicauda View in CoL
French: Spermophile de Brandt / German: Kurzschwanz-Ziesel / Spanish: Ardilla terrestre de Brandt
Taxonomy. Spermophilus brevicauda Brandt, 1843 View in CoL ,
“Habitat, ut videtur, in provinciis Altaicis australioribus versus lacum Balchasch.”
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. E Kazakhstan, N Kyrgyzstan, extreme W Mongolia, and NW China (N Xinjiang).
Descriptive notes. Head-body mean 284-5 mm, tail mean 50-8 mm; weight 143-436 g. Brandt's Ground Squirrel is small-bodied and has yellow-brown dorsum, with light buff spots. Eye rings are faint, buff, and usually visible. Venter is light tan to buff. Tail is short, varying from yellow to orange.
Habitat. Semi-desert vegetation in dry steppes and low sparse brush.
Food and Feeding. Brandt's Ground Squirrel is an herbivore, feeding mostly on shoots, bulbs, grass, and forb seeds. It can climb or dig for food. It will occasionally take insects or scavenge animal matter.
Breeding. Brandt's Ground Squirrel inhabits burrows near vegetation in which young are born.
Activity patterns. Brandt's Ground Squirrels are diurnal. They are active aboveground in late spring and summer and hibernate from late summer; they might estivate during extreme summer heat.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Brandt's Ground Squirrel appears to be solitary and lives in loose and patchy colonies. High-pitched vocalizations can be heard at colonies, but it does not appear to be as vocal as other small ground squirrels.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Population trend of Brandt's Ground Squirrel is unknown. Conservation and management on natural landscapes are hindered due to a near complete lack of information on natural history and basic ecology. Its relatively broad distribution suggests that it remains in reasonable abundance, but few data are available.
Bibliography. Harrison et al. (2003), Smith & Johnston (2008e), Smith & Yan Xie (2008), Thorington et al. (2012).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
