Spermophilus elegans Kennicott, 1863 . Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 158.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Fort Bridger," [Uinta Co., Wyoming, USA].

DISTRIBUTION: NE Nevada, SE Oregon, S Idaho, and SW Montana to C Colorado and W Nebraska (USA).

SYNONYMS: aureus (Davis, 1939); nevadensis (A. Howell, 1928).

COMMENTS: Subgenus Spermophilus (Hall, 1981:385) . Regarded by Howell (1938) and Hall (1981:385) as a subspecies of richardsonii; but Nadler et al. (1971a), Robinson and Hoffmann (1975), Koeppl et al. (1978) and Fagerstone (1982) provided evidence of specific distinctness and included aureus and nevadensis in elegans . Reviewed by Zegers (1984, Mammalian Species, 214).