Barbary Ground Squirrel

The Barbary Ground Squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus) is endemic to Western Sahara, Algeria, and Morocco and has been introduced into the Canary Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland, and rocky areas where it lives colonially in burrows. It is a small species growing to a length of between 160 and 220 millimeters with a bushy tail of a similar length. It weighs up to 350 grams and has short wiry hair. The general color is greyish-brown or reddish-brown and there is a white stripe running along each side, and sometimes another along the spine. The belly is paler grey and the tail is longitudinally barred in black and grey.