Xerospermophilus

Pygmy ground squirrels are small ground squirrels in the genus Xerospermophilus, family Sciuridae, containing four species from Mexico and the United States. The members of this genus were formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene showed that Spermophilus (as then defined) was paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots,^[2] this group is now separated, along with six other genera.^[3] Within the genus, the Mohave ground squirrel and the round-tailed ground squirrel were thought to be close relatives, sometimes a subgenus Xerospermophilus, while the spotted ground squirrel and the Perote ground squirrel were formerly placed in the subgenus (now a genus) Ictidomys.^[3]

Xerospermophilus
Round-tailed ground squirrel in Phoenix, Arizona
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Tribe:	Marmotini
Genus:	Xerospermophilus Merriam, 1892
Type species
Spermophilus mohavensis[1] Merriam, 1889
Species
X. mohavensis X. tereticaudus X. spilosoma X. perotensis

Spotted ground squirrels

The name of the genus is a combination of the Greek word xeros, "dry", and Spermophilus, which also comes from Greek, meaning "seed lovers".^[3]

Species

The four species in Xerospermophilus are listed below. These were previously grouped in the subgenus Otospermophilus together with the rock squirrel and other related species.^[3]

• Mohave ground squirrel, Xerospermophilus mohavensis
• Perote ground squirrel, Xerospermophilus perotensis
• Spotted ground squirrel, Xerospermophilus spilosoma
• Round-tailed ground squirrel, Xerospermophilus tereticaudus