Biology:Rio Grande ground squirrel

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Short description: Species of rodent

Rio Grande ground squirrel
Ictidomys parvidens.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Ictidomys
Species:
I. parvidens
Binomial name
Ictidomys parvidens
Mearns, 1896
Synonyms
  • Spermophilus mexicanus parvidens

The Rio Grande ground squirrel (Ictidomys parvidens) is a species of squirrel in the family Sciuridae. It is found in the south-western United States (Texas and New Mexico) and in north-eastern Mexico.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Rio Grande ground squirrel was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Mexican ground squirrel and, along with the other species of the genus Ictidomys, was classified in the much larger genus Spermophilus,[1] until DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene showed that this group was paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots,[2] and could therefore no longer be retained as a single genus. As a result, Ictidomys is now considered as a genus in its own right.[3]

References

  1. Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=12401047. 
  2. Herron, Matthew D.; Castoe, Todd A.; Parkinson, Christopher L. (2004). "Sciurid phylogeny and the paraphyly of Holarctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 1015–30. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.09.015. PMID 15120398. 
  3. Helgen, Kristofer M.; Cole, F. Russel; Helgen, Lauren E.; Wilson, Don E (2009). "Generic Revision in the Holarctic Ground Squirrel Genus Spermophilus". Journal of Mammalogy 90 (2): 270–305. doi:10.1644/07-MAMM-A-309.1. http://www.mammalsociety.org/uploads/Helgen%20et%20al%202009.pdf. 

Wikidata ☰ Q16753923 entry