Notocitellus

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, 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.

Notocitellus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Tribe: Marmotini
Genus: Notocitellus
A. H. Howell, 1938
Species

N. adocetus
N. annulatus

Distribution of the Notocitellus ground squirrels
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