Squirrels of the World

Spermophilus xanthoprymnus 313

pitched, and powerful. Juvenile calls cannot be easily distin-
guished from those of adults. Major threats to persistence of
this species are the conversion of land to agriculture, urban-
ization, and removal by shooting and poisoning. S. suslicus
is often considered a pest when in the vicinity of crops (es-
pecially grain). Western populations have a diff erent karyo-
type (2n = 36), and this chromosomal diff erence may lead in
the future to the separation of S. suslicus into two distinct
species, in order to refl ect this.

general references: Biedrzycka and Konopinski 2008;
Matrosova et al. 2009; Shekarova et al. 2008; Titov 2003a,
2003b; Trunova and Lobkov 1997.

Spermophilus taurensis

(Gündüz et al., 2007)

Tauru s G r o un d S quirr e l

description: Taurus ground squirrels have a straw yellow
dorsum with a slightly grizzled appearance, due to a fi ne
fl ecking of dark brown to black with a light suff usion of red.
The chin and cheeks are buff ; there are small buff postau-
ricular patches. The feet are pale buff. The venter is white to
gray. The tail is relatively broad. The dorsal coloration of the
tail is the same as the body, and the underside is straw to
reddish; the black tail tip is distinctive.

size: Female—HB 201 mm; T 61 mm; Mass 201 g.

distribution: This species is restricted to the Taurus

Mountains of southern Turkey.

geographic variation: None.

conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population

trend—no information.

habitat: This species is found in montane habitats, at ele-

vations above 1000 m.

natural history: S. taurensis is diurnal. Ecological infor-

mation is lacking on Taurus ground squirrels, due to their

recent description. This species diverged from S. citellus, with

which it shares a similar karyotype (2n = 40), some 2.5 MYA.

The range of S. taurensis is small (17,255 km^2 ), and the Taurus

ground squirrel has low genetic diversity. This montane en-

demic may need to be conserved, because ground squirrels

in the Taurus Mountains have no legal protection and are

viewed as pests.

general references: Gündüz et al. 2007a, 2007b.

Spermophilus xanthoprymnus

(Bennett, 1835)

Asia Minor Ground Squirrel

description: Asia Minor ground squirrels have a brown-

ish straw-colored dorsum that lacks spots but can appear a

bit grizzled, because of black bands on individual hairs. The

snout and the cheeks are grayish and faint yellow. The eye

rings are pale buff to cream colored. The sides, the venter,

Spermophilus taurensis. Photo courtesy Mustafa Sozen.