# Eastern gray squirrel (*Sciurus carolinensis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is a rodent in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia, named by Gmelin, 1788. It is a small, diurnal, arboreal herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 506.5 g and values up to 540.3 g. Gestation lasts 44 days, litters have 3 young, and there are 2 litters per year; sexual maturity comes at 369.4 days (1.0 years). It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 506.5 g – 540.3 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 23.6 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 24 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 39 days – 44 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 – 3 |
| Age at maturity | 11.1 months – 13.2 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Rodentia
- family: Sciuridae
- genus: Sciurus
- species: *Sciurus carolinensis* Gmelin, 1788

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the eastern gray squirrel?

The eastern gray squirrel is a mammal and a rodent in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia.

### How heavy is the eastern gray squirrel?

Adults have a representative body mass of 506.5 g, with values up to 540.3 g, placing it in the small size class.

### What does the eastern gray squirrel eat?

The eastern gray squirrel is a herbivore.

### Is the eastern gray squirrel endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the eastern gray squirrel live?

Its lifespan is given as 23.6 years, with values up to 24 years.

### How many young does the eastern gray squirrel have?

It has 3 young per litter and 2 litters per year, after a gestation period of 44 days.

### Which countries is the eastern gray squirrel recorded in?

Checklists record it in Australia.

### Who named the eastern gray squirrel?

It was named Sciurus carolinensis by Gmelin, 1788.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel