Spermophilus_brevicauda
Spermophilus brevicauda
Species of rodent
Spermophilus brevicauda (Brandt’s ground squirrel) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in eastern Kazakhstan and the northern half of the Xinjiang region of China.[2]
A generic revision of the genus was undertaken in 2007 which helped resolve the uncertainty as to whether this species should be considered a subspecies of Spermophilus erythrogenys. A phylogeny based on molecular sequence data determined that S. brevicauda was indeed a separate species from S. erythrogenys, and from the other similar species in the genus, S. pallidicauda and S. alashanicus.[3]