RODENTIA-SCIURINAE-SPERMOPHILUS RICHARDSON!!. 
325 
SPERMOPHILUS RICHARDSONII. 
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel. 
Antomys richardsonii , Sabine, Linn. Trans. XIII, 1822, 589; pi. xxviii.— Ib. Narr. Franklin’s Jour. 662. 
Harlan, F. Am. 1825, 168. 
Griffith’s Cuv. V, 1827, 246. 
Godman, Am. N. H. II, 246. 
Wagner, in Schreb. Saugt. V; pi. ccx, B. (Interpolated; no text.) 
Jirctomys ( Spermophilus ) richardsonii, Rich. F. B. A. I, 1829, 164; pi. xi. 
Spermophilus richardsonii, F. Cuvier, Suppl. Buffon, I, Mamm. 1831, 321. 
Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. Ill, 1843, 243. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 377; pi. I. 
g Pi Ch. _Rather larger than Sciurus hudsonius. Tail about one-third, or a little more, the length of head and body. Ear 
very short, though with a distinct flap. A distinct thumb claw. Color above, uniform yellowish brown, without spots or lines 
of any kind. Length, 8 inches; tail, 3|; hind foot, I£ inch. 
Of this species no specimens were collected by any of the expeditions, and I accordingly make 
use of one belonging to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for the purpose of 
description. It was collected in the Rocky Mountains by Townsend, but is, unfortunately, not 
in very perfect condition, the tail appearing somewhat mutilated. 
In size, this animal rather exceeds Wisconsin specimens of Spermophilus tridecemlineatus. 
The auricle of the ear is thickened and elongated, hut low, its greatest height above the base 
not exceeding two-tenths of an inch. The whiskers are rather short and black. The 
fore claws are longer than the hinder ones; the thumb is rudimentary, hut its claw is quite 
long and conspicuous, almost equal to the fifth claw. The tail is short, and in this specimen 
quite slender, and uniformly cylindrical to the tip, without any flattened appearance whatever. 
It is, however, probably mutilated. 
The upper parts are of a light yellowish brown, or dull brownish yellow, nearly uniform, hut 
with the faintest possible trace of dusky clouding, where the darker bases of the hairs show 
themselves. The side of the face is nearly uniformly colored with the top of the head ; the 
eyelids and an area between the eye and ear are rather lighter colored. The under parts and 
sides are dull yellowish, lighter than the hack, and shading imperceptibly into it. There is a 
faint wash of stronger yellowish on the sides of the neck in advance of the shoulders. 
Measurements. 
Inches. 
Head and body......._..._ 
8. 00 
Tail vertebrae_.....___ 
1.7 
Hind foot___ 
1.3 
According to Audubon and Bachman, the tail of this animal, when perfect, measures 2^ 
inches to the end of vertebrae, and to end of the hairs ; the hind foot, 1^ inch. 
A very imperfect skin of a spermophile, belonging to the National Institute, and obtained 
on an island in the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, approaches this very closely, but is not in such 
