The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia.
Taxonomy
There have been over 40 described subspecies of the red squirrel, but the taxonomic status of some of these is uncertain. A study published in 1971 recognises 16 subspecies and has served as a basis for subsequent taxonomic work. Although the validity of some subspecies is labelled with uncertainty because of the large variation in red squirrels even within a single region, others are relatively distinctive. At present, there are 23 recognized subspecies of the red squirrel. A number of subspecies of S. vulgaris have been classified as distinct species. S. v. meridionalis of South Italy was elevated to species status as the Calabrian black squirrel in 2017, which descends from a single source population in central Calabria that became isolated in the Middle Pleistocene. The Japanese squirrel, Sciurus lis, was also historically classified as a subspecies of S. vulgaris, although scientific opinion shifted towards classifying it as a distinct species beginning in the 1960s. The Japanese squirrel likely originated through peripatric speciation from a population of red squirrels that colonized the Japanese archipelago in the Pleistocene and speciated into a distinct population due to the isolation of the islands from the Eurasian mainland, emerging as a recognizable species by the Middle Pleistocene. Genetic studies indicate that another subspecies, S. v. hoffmanni of Sierra Espuña in southeast Spain (below included in S. v. alpinus), may also merit recognition as distinct.
S. v. alpinus. Desmarest, 1822. (synonyms: S. v. baeticus, hoffmanni, infuscatus, italicus, numantius and segurae) Iberian peninsula, southern France, and Italy. Fur is intense russet-brown. S. v. altaicus. Serebrennikov, 1928. Altai region of Russia and Mongolia. Highly variable colouration, including very dark variants. S. v. anadyrensis. Ognev, 1929. Far north of Russia and Siberia. Winter coloration has faint chestnut distributed in the main grey colour. S. v. arcticus. Trouessart, 1906. (synonym: S. v. jacutensis) Boreal Siberia until the Lena River. Fur is red to bay, with a white belly. S. v. balcanicus. Heinrich, 1936. (synonyms: S. v. istrandjae and rhodopensis) Eastern Balkan Peninsula. Fur is brown. S. v. chiliensis. Sowerby III, 1921. Eastern China. Fur is primarily black, with traces of red. S. v. cinerea. Hermann, 1804. S. v. dulkeiti. Ognev, 1929. Amur region of eastern Russia, including the Shantar Islands. Black to dark chestnut fur, with a black tail. S. v. exalbidus. Pallas, 1778. (synonyms: S. v. argenteus and kalbinensis) Western Siberia, east of the Ob River. Light colouration, which becomes pale grey in winter. S. v. fedjushini. Ognev, 1935. Belarus. Body is dark red to brown, tail is dark chestnut or red. S. v. formosovi. Ognev, 1935. Northwest Russia. Winter fur is grey with a chestnut tail. S. v. fuscoater. Altum, 1876. (synonyms: S. v. brunnea, gotthardi, graeca, nigrescens, russus and rutilans) Central Europe. Bright red with a white belly; brown to black populations also present in parts of its range, such as the Danish archipelago. S. v. fusconigricans. Dvigubsky, 1804. Northern Mongolia and China. Summer colouration is dark chestnut to black, winter colouration is black to bluish gray. Belly fur is white in a small area. S. v. leucourus. Kerr, 1792. British Isles. Body fur is red, tail often fades to white over the summer. S. v. lilaeus. Miller, 1907. (synonyms: S. v. ameliae and croaticus). Western Balkan Peninsula. Typically brown. S. v. mantchuricus. Thomas, 1909. (synonyms: S. v. coreae and coreanus). Northeastern China and the Korean Peninsula. Winter fur is dark grey. Tail is black year-round. S. v. martensi. Matschie, 1901. (synonym: S. v. jenissejensis) Western Siberia, west of the Ob River. Summer fur has traces of yellow on the hips. Winter fur is pale gray. Tail is chestnut coloured. S. v. ognevi. Migulin, 1928. (synonyms: S. v. bashkiricus, golzmajeri and uralensis) Western Russia. Small and highly variable in colouration. Winter fur is light gray with traces of buff. S. v. orientis. Thomas, 1906. Ezo Red Squirrel. Hokkaidō, in the Japanese Archipelago. Fur is gray, with a white belly. South of Hokkaidō it is replaced by the Japanese squirrel, Sciurus lis. S. v. rupestris. Thomas, 1907. Sakhalin. Fur is black or dark chestnut, with a black tail throughout the year. S. v. ukrainicus. Migulin, 1928. (synonym: S. v. kessleri) Ukraine. Reddish-brown colour, which is mostly retained during the winter. It is replaced by S. v. fuscoater in the Carpathian Mountains. S. v. varius. Gmelin, 1789. Northern Scandinavia. Winter colouration is light blueish-grey. Tail is chestnut to red. S. v. vulgaris. Linnaeus, 1758. (synonyms: S. v. albonotatus, albus, carpathicus, europaeus, niger, rufus and typicus) Southern Scandinavia. Reddish coloration lacking dark morphs. Tends to be small in size. Population of red squirrels in the island of Bornholm is S. v. vulgaris, but the rest of the Danish archipelago is inhabited by S. v. fuscoater.
Description
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