Xerus rutilus 209X. r. intensus—Ethiopia. This form lacks the yellowish dorsal
area of X. r. dabagala.
X. r. massaicus—Olorgesailie (north of Magadi, Kenya). This
form has an overall white–yellowish pink color, speckled
with black. The fl anks are rufous pink without black
speckling. The underparts are whitish yellow, with a
brighter coloration along the sides of the chin, neck, and
fl anks. The red tinge is paler than in X. r. rufi frons.
X. r. rufi frons—northern Uaso Nyiro (Kenya). This form has
a more extended and brighter rufous coloration on the
front and head, and the dorsal pelage is more yellow.
X. r. saturatus—southeastern Kenya and northeastern Tan-
zania. The hands and feet are rufous, and there are indis-
tinct red rings on the tail.
X. r. stephanicus—Ethiopia, Somalia, and northeastern Ke-
nya. This form is pale yellow and rosy, with a reddish
crown on the head. It has less black speckling.
conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population
trend—stable.
habitat: The unstriped ground squirrel occurs in dry sa-
vanna and scrubland habitats with precipitation levels of
800 mm or less. It inhabits thickets, gullies, and gravel fl ats;
and it occupies elevational ranges from sea level to more
than 2000 m. This species survives well in disturbed habitat
and is often found in agricultural fi elds.natural history: A terrestrial and diurnal species, the
behavior of the unstriped ground squirrel allows it to sur-
vive the extreme temperatures of its environment. Animals
emerge from their burrows well after sunrise, and they pro-
ceed to bask in the sun and groom near their burrows for up
to 30 minutes before beginning to forage. Thermoregula-
tory behaviors are displayed continuously while they feed—
individuals alternate between foraging in hot open areas
and resting in the nearby shade. They cool themselves by
pressing their thinly haired bellies against the cool earth,
similar to the behavior of X. inauris. The animals are om-
nivorous, and their diet consists of fruits (such as Adansonia
digitata), seeds (such as Acacia and Commiphora), leaves, fl ow-
ers, and insects. Burrow systems are spatially isolated and
built with two to six entrances. Unstriped ground squirrels
may situate the entrances of their burrows under thickets of
vegetation, such as Salvadora, which reduces the tempera-
ture. In the shade of these thickets, temperatures typically
remain around 35°C, in contrast to exposed soil-surface
temperatures of over 67°C during midday in south Turkana
(Kenya). When temperatures are high, individuals may limit
their activity and remain in the thickets around their bur-
rows for much of the day. This species is also known to oc-
cupy vacant holes excavated by other mammals, such as
holes dug in termite mounds. The number of individuals in
a colony varies from one to six individuals, ranging from a
single-sexed group of animals, to solitary females with their
young, to a single male with several females. Unstriped
ground squirrels may also share a burrow with other spe-
cies, such as X. erythropus.
Although linear social hierarchies exist within colonies,
with males displaying dominance over females for food re-
sources, this species is nonterritorial. Individuals move
across large overlapping home ranges, varying in size from
7.0 ha for males to 1.4 ha for females. Home ranges encom-
pass multiple burrow systems, and individuals may take
refuge in another colony’s burrow when endangered. Preg-
nant females occasionally move into a vacant burrow sys-
tem toward the edge of their home range to give birth and
raise their litters of one or two young. Once the young are
weaned, the adult female may return to her original burrow,
while the juveniles continue inhabiting their birth burrow.
Unstriped ground squirrels interact frequently with one an-
other through a variety of audible and visual displays. Ag-Xerus rutilus. Photo courtesy B. D. Patterson.