Cynomys Rafinesque 1817

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Sciuridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 754-818 : 798

Cynomys Rafinesque 1817

Cynomys Rafinesque 1817 , Am. Mon. Mag., 2: 43.

Type Species: Cynomys socialis Rafinesque 1817

Synonyms: Arctomys Ord 1815 ; Cynomomus Osborn 1894 ; Mamcynomiscus Herrera 1899 ; Monax Warden 1819 .

Species and subspecies: 5 species with 4 subspecies in 2 subgenera:

Subgenus Cynomys (Cynomys) Rafinesque 1817

Subgenus Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) Hollister 1916

Species Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) gunnisoni Baird 1855

Subspecies Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) gunnisoni subsp. gunnisoni Baird 1855

Subspecies Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) gunnisoni subsp. zuniensis Hollister 1916

Species Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) leucurus Merriam 1890

Species Cynomys (Cynomys) ludovicianus (Ord 1815)

Subspecies Cynomys (Cynomys) ludovicianus subsp. ludovicianus Ord 1815

Subspecies Cynomys (Cynomys) ludovicianus subsp. arizonensis Mearns 1890

Species Cynomys (Cynomys) mexicanus Merriam 1892

Species Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) parvidens J. A. Allen 1905

Discussion: Tribe Cynomyini ( Gromov et al., 1965) , or Marmotini ( McKenna and Bell, 1997). Revised by Pizzimenti (1975). Clark et al. (1971) published a key to the genus. Includes Cynomys and Leucocrossuromys as subgenera. Relationships of Cynomys to other ground squirrels are in flux. While generally regarded as monophyletic, and a sister-group to North American Spermophilus , recent evidence suggests that Cynomys may be most closely related to the subgenera Ictidomys and Xerospermophilus , making genus Spermophilus paraphyletic (Hafner, 1984:17; Harrison et al., 2003). Goodwin (1995) reviewed the biogeographic history of the genus.