Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 7, 2026

Notocitellus

Notocitellus is a genus of ground squirrels, containing two species from Mexico. These species are the tropical ground squirrel, and the ring-tailed ground squirrel (N. annulatus). Notocitellus was formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus, as a subgenus or species group. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene has shown Spermophilus to be paraphyletic to the marmots, antelope squirrels, and prairie dogs, it is now separated, along with six other genera. The exact relations of this genus are unclear, though a relation to the antelope squirrels is possible.

Last revised
Jun 7, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
220 w
Citations
4
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Notocitellus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Tribe: Marmotini
Genus: Notocitellus
A. H. Howell, 1938
Type species
Spermophilus annulatus
Species

N. adocetus
N. annulatus

Distribution of the Notocitellus ground squirrels

Notocitellus is a genus of ground squirrels, containing two species from Mexico. These species are the tropical ground squirrel (Notocitellus adocetus), and the ring-tailed ground squirrel (N. annulatus). Notocitellus was formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus, as a subgenus or species group. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene has shown Spermophilus to be paraphyletic to the marmots, antelope squirrels, and prairie dogs,2 it is now separated, along with six other genera.3 The exact relations of this genus are unclear, though a relation to the antelope squirrels is possible.3

References

References

  1. Arthur, Howell (April 1938). "Revision of the North American Ground Squirrels With a Classification of the North American Sciuridae". North American Fauna. 56: 44. Bibcode:1938usgs.rept....2H.
  2. Herron, Matthew D.; Castoe, Todd A.; Parkinson, Christopher L. (2004). "Sciurid phylogeny and the paraphyly of Holarctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (3): 1015–30. Bibcode:2004MolPE..31.1015H. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.09.015. PMID 15120398.
  3. Helgen, Kristofer M.; Cole, F. Russel; Helgen, Lauren E. & Wilson, Don E (2009). "Generic Revision in the Holarctic Ground Squirrel Genus Spermophilus". Journal of Mammalogy. 90 (2): 270–305. doi:10.1644/07-MAMM-A-309.1.