Cape Ground Squirrel

Taxobox
name = Cape Ground Squirrel

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = Cape Ground Squirrel ("Xerus inauris")
status = LC
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
familia = Sciuridae
genus = "Xerus"
subgenus = "Geosciurus"
species = "X. inauris"
binomial = "Xerus inauris"
binomial_authority = (Zimmerman, 1780)The Cape Ground Squirrel (Latin name "Xerus inauris") is found in most of the drier parts of Southern Africa from South Africa through to Botswana and into Namibia.

The name "Cape" Ground Squirrel is somewhat misleading as it actually has a much wider area of distribution. This common name may have been arrived at to distinguish it from a tree squirrel found around Cape Town which was imported from Europe by settlars. Fortunately this introduced squirrel has remained in a narrow area in Cape Town and does not seem to be a negative influence on local fauna.

References

* Griffin, M. & Coetzee, N. 2004. Xerus inauris. In: IUCN 2006. [www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species] . Downloaded on 21 August 2007.
*Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Pp. 754-818 "in" Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.