White-tailed antelope squirrel

The white-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) is a diurnal ground squirrel of the family Sciuridae, found in the arid regions of the southwestern United States and the Baja California Peninsula of northwestern Mexico. Its range runs from southwestern Oregon to New Mexico and from western Colorado to Baja California. It was first described by Merriam in 1889 under the genus Tamias. The species is omnivorous: foliage makes up roughly a tenth to six tenths of its diet and seeds a fifth to a half, with arthropods and, more rarely, lizards and small rodents filling out the rest. It is active mostly in the cooler parts of the day and avoids midday heat, and it is preyed on by raptors, canids and snakes while hosting ticks, fleas, mites and lice. Females usually bear one large litter a year, averaging 9.3 young in Oregon and 5.9 in Baja California. The IUCN Red List rates the species Least Concern.