Spermophilus citellus (Linnaeus, 1766)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6819000 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FFAA-ED57-FFDB-F7B7F6FBF043 |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Spermophilus citellus |
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European Ground Squirrel
Spermophilus citellus View in CoL
French: Spermophile d'Europe / German: Europaischer Ziesel / Spanish: Ardilla terrestre de Europa
Other common names: European Souslik
Taxonomy. Mus citellus Linnaeus, 1766 View in CoL ,
“Austria, Bohemia, Polonia.”
Restricted by V. Martino and E. Martino in 1940 to Wagram, Austria.
Up to eight subspecies with weak basis have been described; N. Ramos-L.ara and colleagues in 2014 suggested that S. citellus is monotypic until further revision. Monotypic.
Distribution. C & SE Europe in two disjunct populations: Pannonian (Czech Republic, Slovakia, E Austria, Hungary, W Romania, and N Serbia) and Balkan (Ukraine, Moldova, E & S Romania, SE Serbia, E Macedonia, Bulgaria, N Greece, and Turkish Thrace). Distribution in Macedonia and N Greece is highly fragmented. Recently extinct in Germany, Croatia, and Poland, but reintroduced to Poland.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 176-228 mm (males) and 174-217 mm (females), tail 31-90 mm (males) and 38-75 mm (females); weight 125-380 g (males) and 131-353 g (females). The European Ground Squirrel is medium-sized and has light grayish brown dorsum, often with yellow wash; sides are cream buff to yellow. Back and sides are mottled to speckled with small light-colored spots. Eye ring is faint buff to yellow. Venter is cream buff to yellow. Tail is short, cylindrical, and grizzled. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 40 and FN = 66-74.
Habitat. Short-grass steppe, montane meadows, and very open forest from near sea level to elevations of ¢.2500 m. European Ground Squirrels avoid dense or tall vegetation that reducesvisibility and produces lower quality grasses. Wet soils that cannot support burrows are not inhabited. They can persist in maintained short open grasslands such as golf courses, grazed pastures, open roadsides, and lawns.
Food and Feeding. The European Ground Squirrel is an herbivore, feeding mostly on leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, and seeds of grasses and forbs. It will occasionally eat insects or scavenge animal matter.
Breeding. The European Ground Squirrel inhabits burrows with a nest chamber in which young are born. Males appear to emerge slightly before females in spring. Males begin to compete for access to females and enter a burrow to copulate. Litters of 2-11 young are produced after a gestation of 25-30 days. Young emerge after 25-30 days and are weaned at 46-51 days. Young grow quickly and disperse at c.9 weeks of age; both sexes disperse distances of up to 350 m. Females and some males can reproduce as yearlings; more female yearlings reproduce than males, but productivity of yearlings is generally less than that of older individuals.
Activity patterns. European Ground Squirrels are diurnal and active aboveground in late spring, usually February-March, but are obligate hibernators in their complex burrows, beginning in August-September for adults and September—October forjuveniles. Activity levels tend to peak in the middle of the day, but during the hottest days, midday peak may be less clear. Females appear to undergo second late season estrus when males are no longer reproductive; this hormonal cycling appears to be related to fattening for hibernation.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The European Ground Squirrel lives in loose colonies of variable density (5-90 ind/ha). Individuals will move more than 100 m to find high-quality food. Individuals occupy their own burrow system, but aboveground space use overlaps considerably among adults with home rangestypically of 0-1-0-4 ha. Lack ofterritoriality exists even during mating period when male-male aggression is high. Mating system is polygynous; males compete for access to mates. Eight call types have been described including three tonal (alarm call, scream, and chatter) and five wideband (grunt, rapid grunt, snarl, chirr, and pant) calls; highpitched, loud alarm calls are most common.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Population trend of the European Ground Squirrel is decreasing. Because some populations occur in highelevations meadows, climate change is believed to be a very serious threat now or in the near future. General conversion of short-grass steppe and grazed pastures to woody or tall grass leads to loss of European Ground Squirrels. Low levels of traditional hunting and trapping occurin localized areas. They can be locally common and found at modest densities (greater than 10 ind/ha). Translocations to Poland and augmentations within current distribution appear to have met with reasonable success. Population on Mt. Jakupica in Macedonia has declined dramatically following fire, woody encroachment, and decreased grazing, and the future of this unique phylogeographic lineage is unclear.
Bibliography. Aschaueret al. (2006), Colak & Ozkurt (2002), Coroiu etal. (2008), Everts et al. (2004), Golemansky & Koshev (2007), Hoffmann et al. (2003), Huber, Hoffmann et al. (2001), Huber, Millesi & Dittami (2002), Huber, Millesi, Walz! et al. (1999), Hulovéa & Sedlacek (2008), Klenovsek & Krystufek (2013), Koshev (2008), Krystufek et al. (2012), Lagaria & Youlatos (2006), Martino & Martino (1940), Mateju et al. (2012), Millesi, Hoffmann & Huber (2004), Millesi, Hoffmann, Steurer et al. (2002), Millesi, Huber, Dittami et al. (1998), Millesi, Huber, Everts & Dittami (1999), Millesi, Huber, Pieta et al. (2000), Millesi, Strijkstra et al. (1999), Ozkurt et al. (2007), Ramos-Lara et al. (2014), Ruedigeret al. (2007), Strauss et al. (2007), Thorington et al. (2012), Vaczi et al. (20006).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
