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

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temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

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 souther ...

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 Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bord ...

, ''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 habitat ...

, ''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 pro ...

, ''Sciurus carolinensis'' ** Collie's squirrel, ''Sciurus colliaei'' ** Deppe's squirrel, ''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 bee ...

, ''Sciurus meridionalis'' **

Mexican fox squirrel The Mexican fox squirrel (''Sciurus nayaritensis'') is a species of tree squirrel found throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico as far south as Jalisco — and northward into the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, U.S.Bes ...

, ''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 ...

, ''Sciurus niger'' **

Peters's squirrel Peters's squirrel (''Sciurus oculatus'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to Mexico. It was first described by the German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peters in 1863. Three subspecies are recognised. It is a common species, ...

, ''Sciurus oculatus'' **

Variegated squirrel The variegated squirrel (''Sciurus variegatoides'') is a tree squirrel in the genus '' Sciurus'' found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, southern Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Fifteen subspecies are recognised. It is a common ...

, ''Sciurus variegatoides'' **

Eurasian red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...

, ''Sciurus vulgaris'' **

Yucatan squirrel The Yucatan squirrel (, ''Sciurus yucatanensis''), originally named the Yucatan gray squirrel, also once named the Campeche squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus '' Sciurus'' found in the Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent areas. It is native ...

, ''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 The red-tailed squirrel (''Sciurus granatensis'') is a species of tree squirrel distributed from southern Central America to northern South America. Distribution It is found in Central and South America (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panam ...

, ''Sciurus granatensis'' **

Bolivian squirrel The Bolivian squirrel (''Sciurus ignitus'') is a tree squirrel that is endemic to South America. Little is known of the species, which may represent a species complex. Description Bolivian squirrels are moderately sized tree squirrels, with a he ...

, ''Sciurus ignitus'' ** Andean squirrel, ''Sciurus pucheranii'' ** Richmond's squirrel, ''Sciurus richmondi'' **

Sanborn's squirrel Sanborn's squirrel (''Sciurus sanborni'') is or was a little known tree squirrel described in 1944 from the skin and skeleton of a single female specimen collected in Peru in 1941. Subsequently, over the proceeding years only a handful of either s ...

, ''Sciurus sanborni'' **

Guayaquil squirrel The Guayaquil squirrel (''Sciurus stramineus'') is a tree squirrel endemic to Ecuador and Peru. It is a robust squirrel with a head-and-body length of and a similar length tail. The colour is variable; in Peru, a pale morph is more common, while ...

, ''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 The fiery squirrel (''Sciurus flammifer'') is a rodent in the family Sciuridae. The taxon is endemic to the area south of the Orinoco River in the state of Bolívar, Venezuela. Taxonomy In 2015 de Vivo & Carmignotto reduced this taxon to a subs ...

, ''Sciurus flammifer'' ** Junín red squirrel, ''Sciurus pyrrhinus'' *Subgenus ''Hesperosciurus'' ** Western gray squirrel, ''Sciurus griseus'' *Subgenus ''Urosciurus'' **

Northern Amazon red squirrel The northern Amazon red squirrel (''Sciurus igniventris'') is a squirrel species from South America. It occurs in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, ...

, ''Sciurus igniventris'' ** Southern Amazon red squirrel, ''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 N ...

'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'' **

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

, ''P. alleni'' **

, ''P. arizonensis'' **

, ''P. nayaritensis'' **

, ''P. niger'' **

, ''P. oculatus'' *''Neosciurus'' **

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

, ''E. variegatoides'' **

, ''E. yucatanensis'' *''Simosciurus'' **'' S. nebouxii'' **

, ''S. stramineus'' *''Guerlinguetus'' **

Brazilian squirrel The Brazilian squirrel (or Guianan squirrel) (''Sciurus aestuans'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to South America. It is found in South-eastern Colombia, Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname and Venezuela Vene ...

, ''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, Australi ...

'' *''Hadrosciurus'' **

, ''H. ignitus'' **

, ''H. igniventris'' ** Junín red squirrel, ''H. pyrrhinus'' ** Southern Amazon red squirrel, ''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

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 "unispec ...

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