Barbary ground squirrel

The Barbary ground squirrel is a small rodent in the squirrel family and the only species in its genus, Atlantoxerus. It is native to the Atlas Mountains region of Morocco and parts of Algeria, and was introduced to the Canary Island of Fuerteventura in 1965. It lives colonially in burrows or rock dens in dry shrubland, grassland and rocky ground, usually near water, and it is one of only two squirrel species living in Africa north of the Sahara. Adults reach 160 to 220 millimetres in body length with a bushy tail of similar length and weigh up to about 350 grams. The coat is grey-brown or reddish-brown with a white stripe along each side. It eats plant material, notably the fruit and seeds of the argan tree, and females bear up to four young twice a year. The population is believed to be stable and the species is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern.