The genus ''Sciurus'' contains most of the common, bushy-tailed squirrels in North America,

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Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Species

The number of species in the genus is subject to change. In 2005, Thorington & Hoffman- whose taxonomic interpretation is followed by the IUCN website- accepted 28 species in the genus: Genus ''Sciurus'' Sciurus granatensis Humboldt 1811

*Subgenus ''Sciurus'' **

Allen's squirrel Allen's squirrel (''Sciurus alleni'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to northern Mexico. It has no recognised subspecies. References

Endemic mammals of Mexico Sciurus Mammals described in 1898 Taxonomy articles crea ...

, ''Sciurus alleni'' **

Arizona gray squirrel The Arizona gray squirrel (''Sciurus arizonensis'') is a tree squirrel, in the genus ''Sciurus'', endemic to the canyons and valleys surrounded by deciduous and mixed forests in eastern Arizona and northern Mexico. It is threatened by habi ...

, ''Sciurus arizonensis'' ** Mexican gray squirrel, ''Sciurus aureogaster'' **

Eastern gray squirrel The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...

, ''Sciurus carolinensis'' ** Collie's squirrel, ''Sciurus colliaei'' **

Deppe's squirrel Deppe's squirrel (''Sciurus deppei'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' native to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Description ''Sciurus deppei'' varies in individual color. Th ...

, ''Sciurus deppei'' ** Japanese squirrel, ''Sciurus lis'' **

Calabrian black squirrel The Calabrian black squirrel (''Sciurus meridionalis'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'', endemic to the forests of the regions of Calabria and Basilicata, in the south of the Italian Peninsula. Taxonomy It has long been ...

, ''Sciurus meridionalis'' ** Mexican fox squirrel, ''Sciurus nayaritensis'' **

Fox squirrel The fox squirrel (''Sciurus niger''), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, it is sometimes mistaken for A ...

, ''Sciurus niger'' ** Peters's squirrel, ''Sciurus oculatus'' ** Variegated squirrel, ''Sciurus variegatoides'' ** Eurasian red squirrel, ''Sciurus vulgaris'' ** Yucatan squirrel, ''Sciurus yucatanensis'' *Subgenus ''Otosciurus'' ** Abert's squirrel, ''Sciurus aberti'' *Subgenus ''Guerlinguetus'' ** Brazilian squirrel (Guianan squirrel), ''Sciurus aestuans'' ** Yellow-throated squirrel, ''Sciurus gilvigularis'' ** Red-tailed squirrel, ''Sciurus granatensis'' ** Bolivian squirrel, ''Sciurus ignitus'' ** Andean squirrel, ''Sciurus pucheranii'' ** Richmond's squirrel, ''Sciurus richmondi'' ** Sanborn's squirrel, ''Sciurus sanborni'' ** Guayaquil squirrel, ''Sciurus stramineus'' *Subgenus ''Tenes'' **

Persian squirrel The Caucasian squirrel (''Sciurus anomalus'') or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia. The species is usually said to have first been described in 1778 ...

, ''Sciurus anomalus'' *Subgenus ''Hadrosciurus'' ** Fiery squirrel, ''Sciurus flammifer'' ** Junín red squirrel, ''Sciurus pyrrhinus'' *Subgenus ''Hesperosciurus'' ** Western gray squirrel, ''Sciurus griseus'' *Subgenus ''Urosciurus'' ** Northern Amazon red squirrel, ''Sciurus igniventris'' **

Southern Amazon red squirrel The southern Amazon red squirrel (''Sciurus spadiceus''), is a squirrel species from South America where it inhabits forests in much of north-western South America east of the Andes. Three subspecies are currently recognised. It is a dark red col ...

, ''Sciurus spadiceus'' In 2015, 15–17 species were left in the genus ''Sciurus'' after de Vivo & Carmignotto comprehensively reviewed South American Sciuridae for the first time in many decades and proposed numerous changes; synonymising some species and many subspecies, splitting another species, and naming new species. They followed

Joel Asaph Allen Joel Asaph Allen (July 19, 1838 – August 29, 1921) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, and ornithologist. He became the first president of the American Ornithologists' Union, the first curator of birds and mammals at the American Museum of ...

's unsatisfying 1914 attempt in splitting the genus ''Sciurus'' by raising the South American subgenera to the rank of genus, adding ''Urosciurus'' to ''Hadrosciurus'', and splitting the genus ''Guerlinguetus'' in three. Their taxonomic treatment might also require ''Sciurus deppei'' to be moved to ''Notosciurus''. A 2020 paper published on the taxonomy of Sciurinae split ''Sciurus'' into multiple new genera and elevated several subgenera. The paper included genetic sampling from almost all recognized species and recommends the following species assignments: *''Sciurus'' **

, ''S. anomalus'' ** Eurasian red squirrel, ''S. vulgaris'' ** Japanese squirrel, ''S. lis'' *''Hesperosciurus'' ** Abert's squirrel, ''H. aberti'' ** Western gray squirrel, ''H. griseus'' *''Parasciurus'' **

Allen's squirrel Allen's squirrel (''Sciurus alleni'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to northern Mexico. It has no recognised subspecies. References

Endemic mammals of Mexico Sciurus Mammals described in 1898 Taxonomy articles crea ...

, ''P. alleni'' **

, ''P. arizonensis'' ** Mexican fox squirrel, ''P. nayaritensis'' **

, ''P. niger'' ** Peters's squirrel, ''P. oculatus'' *''Neosciurus'' **

, ''N. carolinensis'' *''Echinosciurus'' ** Mexican gray squirrel, ''E. aureogaster'' ** Collie's squirrel, ''E. colliaei'' **

, ''E. deppei'' ** Variegated squirrel, ''E. variegatoides'' ** Yucatan squirrel, ''E. yucatanensis'' *''Simosciurus'' **'' S. nebouxii'' ** Guayaquil squirrel, ''S. stramineus'' *''Guerlinguetus'' ** Brazilian squirrel, ''G. aestuans'' **''

G. brasiliensis G is the seventh letter of the Latin alphabet. G may also refer to: Places * Gabon, international license plate code G * Glasgow, UK postal code G * Eastern Quebec, Canadian postal prefix G * Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, g ...

'' *''Hadrosciurus'' ** Bolivian squirrel, ''H. ignitus'' ** Northern Amazon red squirrel, ''H. igniventris'' ** Junín red squirrel, ''H. pyrrhinus'' **

, ''H. spadiceus'' Additionally, the paper suggests moving Andean squirrel back to subtribe Microsciurina, the dwarf squirrels, and assigns it to the newly described genus ''Leptosciurus''. The paper's findings agree with prior assessments to synonymize Richmond's squirrel into Red-tailed squirrel and reassigns the Red-tailed squirrel into the previously

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

Asian genus '' Syntheosciurus'', also in Microsciurina. The paper did not include genetic sampling or taxonomic suggestions for ''gilvigularis'', ''meridionalis'', ''sanborni'', or ''flammifer''.

References

* *Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. *Eisenberg, J.F. 1989.
Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 1: The Northern Neotropics: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana
.

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

. *Redford, K.H. and Eisenberg, J.F. 1992.
Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 2: The Southern Cone: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
. University of Chicago Press. *Eisenberg, J.F. and Redford, K.H. 1999.
Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
. University of Chicago Press.

Footnotes

Rodent genera Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Squirrel-stub