![]() They are predominantly herbivorous, subsisting on seeds and nuts, but many will eat insects and even small vertebrates.Īs their large eyes indicate, squirrels have an excellent sense of vision, which is especially important for the tree-dwelling species. Squirrels live in almost every habitat, from tropical rainforest to semiarid desert, avoiding only the high polar regions and the driest of deserts. They do so by rotating their ankles 180 degrees, enabling the hind paws to point backward and thus grip the tree bark from the opposite direction. Tree squirrels, unlike most mammals, can descend a tree head-first. The paws, which include an often poorly developed thumb, have soft pads on the undersides and versatile, sturdy claws for grasping and climbing. In most squirrel species, the hind limbs are longer than the fore limbs, while all species have either four or five toes on each paw. The coat color of squirrels is highly variable between-and often even within-species. In general, their fur is soft and silky, though much thicker in some species than others. Squirrels typically have slender bodies with bushy tails and large eyes. Squirrels are generally small animals, ranging in size from the African pygmy squirrel at 7–10 cm (2.8–3.9 in) in length and just 10 g (0.35 oz) in weight, to the Laotian giant flying squirrel at 1.08 m (3 ft 7 in) in length and the Alpine marmot, which weighs from 5 to 8 kg (11 to 18 lb). The Old English word is of Common Germanic origin, cognates of which are still used in other Germanic languages, including the German Eichhörnchen (diminutive of Eichhorn, which is not as frequently used), the Norwegian ikorn/ekorn, the Dutch eekhoorn, the Swedish ekorre and the Danish egern. The native Old English word for the squirrel, ācweorna, survived only into Middle English (as aquerne) before being replaced. This Latin word was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word sσκίουρος skiouros, which means shadow-tailed, referring to the bushy appendage possessed by many of its members. The word "squirrel", first attested in 1327, comes from the Anglo-Norman esquirel which is from the Old French escurel, the reflex of a Latin word sciurus. The earliest known squirrels date from the Eocene period and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to the dormouse among other living rodent families. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, and were introduced by humans to Australia. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots (including woodchucks), flying squirrels, and prairie dogs amongst other rodents. Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. All you ever wanted to know about SQUIRRELS!
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