Barbary Ground Squirrel

Description:

The Barbary Ground Squirrel is a small species growing to a length of between 160 and 220 mm. It has a bushy tail of a similar length. It weighs up to 350 g and has short wiry hair. The general colour is greyish-brown or reddish-brown with a white stripe running along each side, and sometimes another along the spine. The belly is paler grey and the tail is longitudinally barred in black and grey.

Habitat:

I found this squirrel in Fuerteventura island, which is one of the Canary Islands. This species can be found there, where it has been introduced, and in some places of mainland Africa, such as Western Sahara, Algeria and Morocco. This squirrel lives in subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland and rocky areas, where it lives colonially in burrows.

Notes:

It is monotypic within the genus Atlantoxerus.