A new rock squirrel (Citellus variegatus) from the Great Basin with critical comments on related subspecies

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When Howell (North Amer. Fauna, 56: 1-256, 1938) reported upon rock squirrels (Citellus variegatus (Erxleben)) from Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, he gave a divided range (op. cit.: 137) for both Citellus variegatus grammurus and Citellius variegatus utah. For C. v. grammurus, he indicated that one isolated population occurred in the Arizona-Utah-Nevada corner and that it was separated from the main range of this subspecies by the Colorado River. Likewise, one small isolated population of C. v. utah was recorded from the Kaibab Forest, which was far removed from the main range of this subspecies in central Utah. Hall (Mamm. of Nevada, Univ. California Press, Berkeley, California, 310-313, 1946), in his report upon the mammals of Nevada, agreed with Howell that rock squirrels from Nevada were referable to the subspecies C. v. grammurus. Hall had more specimens, than did Howell, which established a larger range in Nevada for these animals. Kelson (Univ. Utah BioI. Series XL No. 3: 29-30, 1951) extended the range of C. v. grammurus in Utah, to include all of south-central and southeastern Utah as far north as the Book Cliffs in Carbon County. Durrant (Mamm. of Utah, Taxonomy and Distribution, Univ, Kansas Publs., Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 6: 118-120, 1952) agreed essentially with Kelson, differing only in the assignment of the specimens from Carbon County. Hall and Kelson (Univ. Kansas Publs., Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 5, 26: 346, 1952) employed the name combination Spermophilus variegatus grammurus (Say) for the two specimens from the Kaibab Plateau, 1 from Big Springs and 1 from Kaibab Forest (only 1 examined) which were formerly assigned by Howell to C. v. utah. Their decision was based upon color and the geographic occurrence of these specimens. With the acquisition of additional specimens from critical areas, it became apparent that animals of this species from the aforementioned areas needed additional study and evaluation. This paper makes different subspecific assignments than were formerly recognized and describes and names one hitherto unrecognized subspecies.

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Reference Code: A54DUR01IDUS

Full Citation: Durrant, S. D., and R. M. Hansen. 1954. A new rock squirrel (Citellus variegatus) from the Great Basin with critical comments on related subspecies. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 67: 263-272.

Location: ANIMAL EF: SPERMOPHILUS VARIEGATUS