Atlantoxerus getulus (Linnaeus)

Kryštufek, Boris, Mahmoudi, Ahmad, Tesakov, Alexey S., Matějů, Jan & Hutterer, Rainer, 2016, A review of bristly ground squirrels Xerini and a generic revision in the African genus Xerus, Mammalia (Warsaw, Poland) 80 (5), pp. 521-540 : 535

Atlantoxerus getulus (Linnaeus) : Barbary ground squirrel

Sciurus getulus Linnaeus 1758, p. 64 . The type locality (“Habitat in Africa” = Lives in Africa) was restricted to “Barbary” (= Mediterranean Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic coast) by Thomas (1911:149), and to “ Agadir ” ( Morocco) by Cabrera (1932: 217).On p. 218 Cabrera justified this step as follows (our translation from Spanish): “(1) Imports of animals and other goods from Morocco in the 17 th and 19 th century came mostly from the port “Santa Cruz de Berberia”, the current name of which is Agadir. Examples are squirrels figured in the painting “Arche Noah” by the Dutch artist P. Breughel [actually Jan Breughel the Elder, 1568–1625], now in the Prado in Madrid [Prado holds one of the later versions while the original is in the J. Paul Getty Museum; Kolb 2005], and in the book by Gessner from 1551. The picture in Gessner subsequently inspired Ray (1693, Synops. Method. Anim. Quadrup., p. 216) to discuss this squirrel. (2) Linnaeus based his name on the reports of Ray (as above), and of Edwards 1751 (A natural history of birds, vol. 4, plate 198), who reported and figured a squirrel from “Santa Cruz (on the Western Coast of Barbary, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean)”. The specimen figured in Gessner (1551), argues Cabrera, should be regarded as the type of the species.

No subspecies are recognized.

Etymology.– The name Atlantoxerus was coined from Greek “Atlas” or “Atlantos” (=the Atlas Mts. in Morocco)+“ Xerus ” (dry in Greek) in allusion to the arid habitat. The species name is derived from Gaetulia (Romanized for a Berber Getulia), an ancient district in Northern Africa around the Atlas Mts.

Diagnosis. – The smallest species of Xerini , and the only one having a light spinal stripe ( Figure 2 ), present metatarsal pads, a paired interparietal bone ( Figure 7 ), upper incisor with traces of a groove, and brachiodont and bunodont cheek-teeth. Among the African Xerina , Atlantoxerus is unique in having rough, but not bristly (spiny) fur, four pairs of nipples, exposed orifice which is not sheltered by a tragus, in retaining the parieto-interparietal suture ( Figure 7 ), and in having a short wedge-like extension of the jugal bone between the lacrimal and maxillary ( Figure 10 ). Baculum (length= 7 mm) has a long proximal portion and simple blade which is asymmetrical in dorsal view and has a medial crest ( Pocock 1923). The 3 rd upper premolar is present ( Figure 8 ).

Distribution. – Endemic to north-western Africa ( Figure 9 ) in Morocco and present very marginally also in western Algeria ( Aulagnier and Thevenot 1986, Kowalski and Rzebik-Kowalska 1991). In 1966–1970 introduced to Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands ( Bertolino 2009). Prefers open rocky habitats.

Remarks. – Atlantoxerus getulus is reviewed in Aulagnier (2013).

Figures

Figure 2: Representatives of genera in African bristly ground squirrels Xerina: 1 – AtlantoxerUS getUlUS (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands; photo courtesy Alenka KryŠtufek); 2 – GeoSciUrUS inaUriS (Etosha National Park, Namibia; photo courtesy Emmanuel Do Linh San); 3 – XerUS rUtilUS (Samburu National Park, Kenya; photo by Jan Matějů); 4 – EUxerUS erythroPUS (captive; photo courtesy Klaus Rudloff).

Figure 7: Skull of AtlantoxerUS getUlUS (NMW 43000) in dorsal, lateral and ventral views (from top to bottom). Arrows point on traits which are informative for taxonomic ranking of Xerini. 1 – lacrimal bone; 2-postorbital process of the frontal bone; 3 – anterior extension of the squamosal bone; 4 – parietointerparietal suture; 5 – interparietal suture; 6 – anteriorly projected external ridge on the front face of the zygomatic plate; 7 – jugal bone; 8 – opisthodont upper incisor; 9 – masseteric tubercle; 10 – buccinator foramen; 11 – masticatory foramen; 12 – posterior margin of hard palate; 13 – external meatUS acUSticUS.

Figure 8: Left maxillary (above) and right mandibular (below) toothrows in Xerini: 1 – EUxerUS erythroPUS (NHML 69.10.24.18/ZFMK 97.467), 2 – XerUS rUtilUS (ZFMK 81.234/ZFMK 96.251); 3 – GeoSciUrUS inaUriS (ZFMK 55.147); 4 – AtlantoxerUS getUlUS (PMS 19301 / ZFMK 88.195); 5 – SPermoPhiloPSiS lePtodactylUS (ZFMK 92.497/ ZFMK 92.496). Abbreviations for cheek-teeth: P/p – upper/lower premolar, M/m – upper/lower molar; numbers refer to a position in the tooth-row. Scale bar=2 mm.

Figure 9: Distributional ranges of Xerini. Fossil (Late Oligocene to Early Pleistocene) records (top inset) are based on Fortelius (2015) with corrections and additions from Gromov and Erbajeva (1995), Kozhamkulova and Bendukidze (2005), Winkler et al. (2010), Flynn and Wessels (2013), and Maridet et al. (2014). Map of recent ranges (inset below) does not show the isolate of EUxerUS erythroPUS in Morocco, and the population of AtlantoxerUS getUlUS introduced to Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.

Figure 10: Anterior zygomatic arch in three genera of Xerini to show differences in a suture between the lacrimal (lac), the maxillary (max) and the jugal (ju) bones. 1 – SPermoPhiloPSiS lePtodactylUS (NMW 32092); 2 – AtlantoxerUS getUlUS (NMW 43000); 3 – EUxerUS erythroPUS (ZFMK 97.472). Arrow points on a wedge-like extension of the jugal between the lacrimal and maxillary in SPermoPhiloPSiS and AtlantoxerUS. A bluntly truncated top of jugal bone at the lacrimal bone which is distinctive of sub-Saharan Xerina, is shown by triangle. Not to scale.