Abert squirrel

Sciurus aberti

TAXONOMY

Sciurus aberti Woodhouse, 1853, Arizona, United States.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Tassel-eared squirrel; Spanish: Ardilla de Abert.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Head and body length 10–12.5 in (260–320 mm), tail (190–260 mm); weight 16–29 oz (450–820 g). Peppered gray upper fur, underside white. White conspicuous eye ring. Tail is gray fringed in white. Ear tufts or tassels can reach up to 1.5 in (40 mm) in February and March, very reduced or absent during the summer. Some populations in New Mexico and Colorado have a high incidence of melanism. Kaibab race characterized by dark gray to black belly and white tail.

DISTRIBUTION

Northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.

HABITAT

Ponderosa and yellow pine forests, mixed conifer forests.

BEHAVIOR

Diurnal activity pattern. Home range size reported to vary seasonally linked to the availability of resources, with male home ranges larger than female ranges.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Ponderosa pine seeds, bark, buds, and flowers. Other food items include insects, acorns, mistletoe berries, and fungi. Fungi are an important food source in the summer and Abert squirrels may be important spore dispersal agents.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygamous. Gestation approximately 40 days, mean litter size 3.4 young.

CONSERVATION STATUS

There have been suggestions that existing logging and forest management practices may impact negatively on some populations.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

Abert's squirrel
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Sciuridae Genus: Sciurus Subgenus: Otosciurus Nelson, 1899 Species: S. aberti
Binomial name
Sciurus aberti Woodhouse, 1853

The Abert's Squirrel or Tassel-eared Squirrel (Sciurus aberti) is a tree squirrel that is native to the Rocky Mountains from United States to Mexico, with concentrations found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Durango.

Abert's squirrels are 46-58 cm long with a tail of 19-25 cm. They are strictly diurnal. A number of subspecies have been described including the Kaibab Squirrel.

The Abert's squirrel does not store its food like other North American squirrels. The vast majority of the squirrel's diet consists of parts of the ponderosa pine. Feeding on the tree's seeds and buds in the warmer months, it depends on the inner bark of the tree for nourishment in the wintertime. Consequently, Abert's squirrels are found in coniferous forests with large populations of ponderosa pines.

The Abert's squirrel typically builds its nest in the branches of the ponderosa pine in groups of twigs infected with mistletoe.

History

The Abert's squirrel is named after Colonel John James Abert, an American naturalist and military officer who headed the Corps of Topographical Engineers and organized the effort to map the American West in the 1800s.

References

• Rodent Specialist Group (1996). Sciurus aberti. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006.
• Sciurus aberti (TSN 180173). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 23 March 2006.

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