Xerus erythropus 203southern Prebalkans [in Bulgaria]” (Heptner and Isma-
gilov). No description is available.conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population
trend—no information.
habitat: The long-clawed ground squirrel is found in
sandy deserts, away from cultivated areas.
natural history: This squirrel lives in small family
groups, inhabiting burrows in brushy locales. It stays away
from cultivated areas and thus has little interaction with
farmers. But it has been known to uproot planted seed and
destroy plants by consuming the underground roots. Al-
though diurnal, it will adjust its activity to the season. Dur-
ing the summer it is in its burrow during the hottest part of
midday, and during the winter it generally spends all its
time out of its burrow, except when the weather gets very
cold. It will venture up to 1000 m from the burrow to forage
when resources are scarce. Its diet consists of fruits, seeds,
bulbs, vegetation, and insects. Mating occurs in February
and March. Three to six young are born in April or May. The
skin of S. leptodactylus is marketed in substantial quantities
in the fur trade.general references: Kullmann 1965; Lay 1967.Xerus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833
The genus Xerus contains four species. These are the ground
squirrels of Africa south of the Sahara.
Xerus erythropus
(É. Geoff roy, 1803)
Striped Ground Squirrel
description: The striped ground squirrel is a red sandy
color, with pure white lateral stripes that stretch from its
shoulders to its thighs. Its underbelly (where not bare) is
thinly covered with white hair, and its face is highlighted
with disconnected white around its eyes and behind its
small ears. The hind feet are buff , and its other limbs are
similarly lighter in color than the dorsal pelage. The red
sandy color of the back extends to the end of the long tail,
which fades gradually from black to white toward the tip.
The tail is distichous rather than terete. X. erythropus can
be distinguished from the sympatric species in its range
by several features. In contrast to X. rutilus, which can
also be found through Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya, the
striped ground squirrel has a characteristic white or buff y
lateral stripe running from the shoulders to the thighs,
and it is also larger in size. This species diff ers from X. in-
auris and X. princeps by possessing three mammae rather
than two.size: Both sexes—HB 255 mm (223–290 mm); 219 mm (185–
262 mm); Mass 500–950 g.
No sexual dimorphism is reported.distribution: This squirrel’s range stretches through
three areas: (1) central Morocco; (2) northern Kenya; and (3)
southern Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, southern Mali,
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Niger, Nigeria,
northern Cameroon, southern Chad, northern Central Afri-
can Republic, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo,
southern Sudan, northern Uganda, western Kenya, Ethio-
pia, and Eritrea. Abundance varies by region. For example,
these squirrels are common in Kenya and Sierra Leone but
rare in Morocco.