Chordates • Earth.com

Spermophilus brevicauda

(Spermophilus brevicauda)

Description

Spermophilus brevicauda (Brandt’s ground squirrel) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in eastern Kazakhstan and the northern half of the Xinjiang region of China. A generic revision of the genus was undertaken in 2007 which helped resolve the uncertainty as to whether this species should be considered a subspecies of Spermophilus erythrogenys. A phylogeny based on molecular sequence data determined that S. brevicauda was indeed a separate species from S. erythrogenys, and from the other similar species in the genus, S. pallidicauda and S. alashanicus.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Mammalia
Order:Rodentia
Family:Sciuridae
Genus:Spermophilus
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day