{"id":1521,"date":"2013-03-10T03:11:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-10T03:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/?p=1521"},"modified":"2013-03-10T03:11:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-10T03:11:36","slug":"sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/","title":{"rendered":"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"CENTER\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/020113-012.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1523 aligncenter\" alt=\"020113-012\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/020113-012-293x300.jpg?resize=293%2C300\" width=\"293\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Sciuridae : Squirrels<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Common names:<\/b> Squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, woodchucks, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, tree squirrels, ground squirrels.<\/p>\n<p><b>Taxonomy:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><b>Kingdom:<\/b> Animalia, <b>Phylum:<\/b> Chordata, <b>Class:<\/b> Mammalia, <b>Order:<\/b> Rodentia, <b>Suborder:<\/b> Sciuromorpha, <b>Family:<\/b> Sciuridae, <b>Genus:<\/b> (various), <b>species:<\/b> spp.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Localitie\/Region<\/b>:<\/p>\n<p>Indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, and introduced to Australia. They inhabit almost every region from woodlands and forests, to rainforests and deserts, with an avoidance of extremely dry deserts and high polar regions.<\/p>\n<p><b>Description:<\/b><br \/>\nFrom the Ancient Greek word &#8220;\u03c3\u03ba\u03af\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2&#8221; or &#8220;skiouros&#8221; (for &#8220;shadow tailed&#8221;), Old French word &#8220;escurel&#8221;, Anglo-Normal word &#8220;esquirel&#8221;, and Latin &#8220;sciurus&#8221; is the generic name of &#8220;squirrel&#8221; used first in 1327 to describe a number of bushy tailed rodent-like critters. The Sciuridae family, dates to the Eocene, and is a large group of small to medium sized rodents that include ground squirrels, tree squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, woodchucks, and prairie dogs. They are most closely related to the mountain beaver as well as the dormouse. The earliest squirrel we know of comes from a fossil and is called &#8220;Hesperopetes&#8221; dating from the Chadronian (late Eocene, ca. 40-35 million years ago) sharing many similarities to the flying squirrel. Other fossils date from late Eocene, Miocene, onwards to present day &#8211; though may have as a group originated from North America. In general, they are small animals ranging from 7-10 centimeters <i>(African Pygmy Squirrel)<\/i> upwards to the 53-73 centimeters long <i>Alpine Marmot<\/i>. Those described under the common name of &#8220;squirrel&#8221; have slender bodies with busy tails and large eyes, soft and silky fur, in a variety of colors from black to brown, tan to orange, and mottled red, brown, orange, tan, black, and white. Their hind legs are longer than their fore limbs, with 4-5 toes on each paw, with a poorly under-developed thumb and soft pads on their undersides. They are primarily herbivores, dining on nuts, seeds, insects, and sometimes small vertebrates. They have excellent vision, are very versative, and possess sturdy claws for climbing and grasping. They have vibrisse on their heads and limbs giving them a very good sense of touch. Their teeth share features with most rodents, holding large gnawing incisors in front and grinding teeth in the back. They can live upwards of 6 years but vary from species to species. They breed one to two times a year, giving birth to a varying range of young after 3-6 weeks of gestation. Squirrels do not have hair when first born, are blind, and have no teeth. Only females look after the young, but weening takes place 6-10 weeks of age, and all squirrels are sexually mature by age 1. The ground-dwellers are very social, while the tree dwellers tend to be more solitary. Tree and ground squirrels are diurnal or crepuscular while the flying squirrel tents to be nocturnal except when lactating with offspring. They rely on foods rich in protein, fats, and carbohydrates. They cannot digest cellulose. Their food source involve a lot of nuts and seeds, as well as buds of trees, plants, conifer cones, fruits, fungi, and green vegetation. Some will consume meat, insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes, and smaller rodents. There are 5 sub-families, with about 58 general and over 285 species.There exists three main groups, the Sciurinae <i>(arboreal\/tree living)<\/i>, the Callosciurinae <i>(arboreal\/colorful)<\/i>, and the Xerinae (<i>Ground living<\/i>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Sciuridae : Squirrels Common names: Squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, woodchucks, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, tree squirrels, ground squirrels. Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Rodentia, Suborder: Sciuromorpha, Family: Sciuridae, Genus: (various), species: spp. Localitie\/Region: Indigenous to the Americas, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[34,50],"tags":[189,378,379,555,556,628,720,916,924,1151,1227,1228,1263,1264,1265,1318,1343,1456,1569],"class_list":["post-1521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fauna","category-mammalia","tag-animalia","tag-chipmunks","tag-chordata","tag-escurel","tag-esquirel","tag-flying-squirrels","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-mammalia","tag-marmots","tag-prairie-dogs","tag-rodentia","tag-rodents","tag-sciuridae","tag-sciuroorpha","tag-sciurus","tag-skiouros","tag-squirrels","tag-tree-squirrels","tag-woodchucks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots - Naturally Science and Lore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots - Naturally Science and Lore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Sciuridae : Squirrels Common names: Squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, woodchucks, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, tree squirrels, ground squirrels. Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Rodentia, Suborder: Sciuromorpha, Family: Sciuridae, Genus: (various), species: spp. Localitie\/Region: Indigenous to the Americas, &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Naturally Science and Lore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-10T03:11:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/020113-012-293x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"technotink\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"technotink\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"technotink\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d9cbe7291739e15ff8d989e506857fd\"},\"headline\":\"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-10T03:11:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.technogypsie.com\\\/science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/020113-012-293x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Animalia\",\"chipmunks\",\"Chordata\",\"escurel\",\"esquirel\",\"flying squirrels\",\"ground squirrels\",\"Mammalia\",\"marmots\",\"prairie dogs\",\"rodentia\",\"rodents\",\"sciuridae\",\"sciuroorpha\",\"sciurus\",\"skiouros\",\"squirrels\",\"tree squirrels\",\"woodchucks\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fauna\",\"Mammalia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/technotink.net\\\/science\\\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots - 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Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Rodentia, Suborder: Sciuromorpha, Family: Sciuridae, Genus: (various), species: spp. Localitie\/Region: Indigenous to the Americas, &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/","og_site_name":"Naturally Science and Lore","article_published_time":"2013-03-10T03:11:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/020113-012-293x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"technotink","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"technotink","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/"},"author":{"name":"technotink","@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/#\/schema\/person\/7d9cbe7291739e15ff8d989e506857fd"},"headline":"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots","datePublished":"2013-03-10T03:11:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/"},"wordCount":550,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.technogypsie.com\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/020113-012-293x300.jpg","keywords":["Animalia","chipmunks","Chordata","escurel","esquirel","flying squirrels","ground squirrels","Mammalia","marmots","prairie dogs","rodentia","rodents","sciuridae","sciuroorpha","sciurus","skiouros","squirrels","tree squirrels","woodchucks"],"articleSection":["Fauna","Mammalia"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/","url":"https:\/\/technotink.net\/science\/sciuridae-squirrels-prairie-dogs-chipmunks-marmots\/","name":"Sciuridae: Squirrels, Prairie Dogs, Chipmunks, Marmots - 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