Squirrels


Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots (including woodchucks), flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia. Squirrels are first attested in the Eocene, about forty million years ago, and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to dormice among living species.

Squirrels only breed once or twice a year, and give birth to a varying number of young after three to six weeks, depending on species itself. The young are born naked, toothless, helpless, and blind. In almost all species, only the female looks after the young, which are weaned at around six to ten weeks of age, and become sexually mature at the end of their first year. Ground dwelling species are generally social animals, often living in well-developed colonies, but the tree-dwelling species are more solitary.

Ground and tree squirrels are typically diurnal, while flying squirrels tend to be nocturnal and except for lactating flying squirrels and their offspring, which have a period of diurnality during the summer.

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