Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel

The Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel (Spermophilus musicus) is a rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae whose taxonomic status has been much debated. It has at times been treated as a subspecies of the little ground squirrel. It was long considered endemic to the North Caucasus, in Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia-Alania, but a 2024 analysis suggested that all populations of the little ground squirrel west of the Volga River belong to this species. On that wider definition it is a widespread animal, ranging from Dagestan to Crimea and between the Dnieper and the Volga, though it does not occur in the Kuban, and the original North Caucasus population is isolated from the rest. Despite the small range it was first known from, the species is rated least concern on the IUCN Red List because it is common within its range and its population is growing.