African striped ground squirrel

The African striped ground squirrel (Euxerus erythropus), also called the striped ground squirrel, is a moderately large ground squirrel native to Africa south of the Sahara and north of the tropical rainforest, from the Atlantic coast in the west to Ethiopia and Kenya in the east. It was first described by Geoffroy in 1803 and six subspecies are recognised. Adults are 22 to 29 centimetres long with a tail of 19 to 26 centimetres, weigh 0.5 to 1 kilogram, and have sandy to dark brown bristly fur with a narrow white stripe along each flank and whitish underparts. They live alone or in pairs in simple burrows with a central nest, forage mostly on the ground for seeds, nuts and roots, cache surplus food under stones, and are diurnal. Open or disturbed forest and savannah, often near cultivated land, is their usual habitat, and they can be an agricultural pest. The species is common and rated least concern by the IUCN.