Endangered
Nelson's antelope squirrel
Ammospermophilus nelsoni
Nelson's antelope squirrel is a rodent in the family Sciuridae (order Rodentia) — Ammospermophilus nelsoni, recorded as Endangered and tied to United States.
Appearance
The San Joaquin antelope squirrel is dull yellowish-brown or buffy-clay in color on upper body and outer surfaces of the legs with a white belly and a white streak down each side of its body in the fashion of other antelope squirrels. The underside of the tail is a buffy white with black edges.
Males are approximately 9.8 inches and females are approximately 9.4 inches in length.
Range and habitat
The San Joaquin antelope squirrel is found in the San Joaquin Valley, among them slopes and ridge tops along the western edge of the valley. It is endemic to the region, and is found in a much smaller range today than it originally inhabited. Since the San Joaquin Valley fell under heavy agricultural cultivation, habitat loss combined with rodenticide use has reduced the squirrels numbers enough that it is now listed as a threatened species.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Even so, their diet may differ depending on the time of day or time of year. Green vegetation is the most common diet type from December to mid-April because it is the most abundant during this period.
Likewise, insects make up more than 90% of the squirrel's diet from mid-April to December because they are more abundant. Although seeds are available for most of the year, it is not the preferable diet of the squirrels. Studies by Hawbecker provide abundant information on breeding and the life cycle of Nelson's antelope squirrel.
In crisis
Not only are these practices affecting the population of the Nelson's antelope squirrel, but they are also causing problems for other native animal and plant species in the San Joaquin Valley. Native plant species such as the kern mallow, San Joaquin woolly threads, California jewelflower, and Bakersfield cactus are all federally endangered plant species that are being outcompeted by invasive plant species. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a recovery plan dated 1998 that includes the ideas of using Safe Harbor Agreements (SHA's) under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act.
A multispecies approach to conservation is important because of the increasing number of native species becoming threatened and endangered in the San Joaquin Valley. Monitoring and studying of the species is needed to determine just how threatened the species is and what needs to be done to reestablish stable populations in the valley.
Nelson's antelope squirrel is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Nelson's antelope squirrel, Wikidata item Q308775. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
