466 



REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGTST. 



SCIURUS NICxER RUFI VENTER (Geoffrey). 

 FOX SQUIRREL. 



Sciurus rufiventer Geoff., Cat. Mus. Hist. Nat. de Paris, p. 176, 

 1803. Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol 16, p. 167, 1902. 



Sciurus 7iiger ludovicianus Evermann and Butler, Proc. Ind. 

 Acad. Sci. for 1893, p. 131. 



Sciurus nigcr rufiventer Osgood, Proe. \Vio\. Soe., Wash., Vol. 20, 

 p. 44, 1907. 



Diagnostic characters. — Size larger than any of the gray squir- 

 rels ; hair of back banded with gray and rusty yellowish ; tail very 

 long and bushy; under parts bright, rusty yellow. 



Detailed description. — The rusty or '"foxy" color of this spe- 

 cies separates it readily from the gray squirrels and it is never con- 

 fused with them. The muzzle is usually bordered with the yellow- 

 ish color which also encircles the eyes. The hairs of the back are 

 colored with alternate bands of blackish aiid rusty. Hairs of belly 

 are blackish at base but rusty yellow on the outer third and this 

 color also predominates on the under side of the tail. The exact 

 shade of the yellowish color is extremely variable in different in- 

 dividuals as is also the proportion of yellow and black. Hence the 

 great differences in the appearances of the animals. 



Measurements. — The average of five specimens from northwest- 

 ern Indiana is: total length, 547 mm. (21% in.) ; tail, 245 mm. 

 in.) ; hind foot, 67 mm. (2 11/16 in.). 



Skull and teeth. — The skull is long with a narrow braincase 

 and relatively broad rostrum. It differs from the skull of the gray 

 squirrel also in that it lacks the small first premolar, there being 

 })ut four cheek teeth on each side of the upper jaw. 



Range. — Fox s(|uin'('ls belonging to four or more subspecies are 

 found throughout the region from the western border of the great 

 plains to the Atlantic. The sul)S[)eeies, as now recognized, has a 

 range extc^nding from South Dakota and Wisconsin to the Alle- 

 ghenies and south to Mississi{)})i. Howcwer, fhe s(iuiri'els from the 

 western ])art of this range differ from their eastcr'n n^latives as 

 much as these do from some of the other forms. 



In Indiana the fox sfpiirrel is I'oujid throughout tlu; State 

 wherever sufficient timber remains to aff'ord shelter. 



Remarks. — The fox squirrel does not have a blade i)liase, and 

 melanistic individuals are rare if they ever occui', aitliough the 

 southern form Sciurus nigcr is black with white ears and nose. 



