Red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758
The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), also called the Eurasian red squirrel, is a rodent in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia. It is a small, diurnal, arboreal herbivore with an adult body mass of 333 g.
Quick facts about the red squirrel
Its lifespan is 12 years, with values up to 14.8 years reported, and the IUCN Red List classifies it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 333 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 12 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 14.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 38 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.43src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 9.93 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the red squirrel
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the red squirrel live?
Not recorded
What is the red squirrel?
The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia.
From the Wikipedia article “Red squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_squirrel&oldid=1383725642), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the red squirrel endangered?
The red squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the red squirrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familySciuridae
- genusSciurus
- SpeciesSciurus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Sciurus alpines, Sciurus alpinus, Sciurus balcanicus, Sciurus carpathicus, Sciurus croaticus, Sciurus europaeus, Sciurus fuscoater, Sciurus graeca, Sciurus italicus, Sciurus leucurus, Sciurus lilaeus, Sciurus typicus, Sciurus varius, Sciurus vulgaris coreae, Sciurus vulgaris coreanus, Sciurus vulgaris hoffmanni, Sciurus vulgaris vulgaris
Other names and names in other languages (135)
- Eurasian red squirrelEnglish
- Eurasian red squirrelEnglish
- Eurasian red squirrelEnglish
- سنجاب أحمرArabic
- سنجاب أحمر أوراسيArabic
- EsquirueloAragonese
- Adi sincabAzerbaijani
- OachkatzlBavarian
- Вавёрка звычайнаяBelarusian
- Обикновена катерицаBulgarian
- Gwiñver rousBreton
- Obična vjevericaBosnian
- EsquirolCatalan
- Esquirol vermell europeuCatalan
- ᏌᎶᎵCherokee
- ПакшаChuvash
- veverka obecnáCzech
- Gwiwer GochWelsh
- Gwiwerod CochWelsh
- Almindeligt egernDanish
- EgernDanish
- EicherGerman
- BaumfuchsGerman
- EichenaffeGerman
- EicherliGerman
- EichhalmGerman
- EichhaseGerman
- EichhörnchenGerman
- EichkaterGerman
- EichkätzchenGerman
- EichkatzerlGerman
- EichkatzlGerman
- EkenaapeGerman
- Eurasisches EichhörnchenGerman
- Europäisches EichhörnchenGerman
- KattekerGerman
- KatzeicherGerman
- KonradchenGerman
- NjewjerickaLower Sorbian
- ΣκίουροςGreek
- Κοινός ΣκίουροςGreek
- Rufa sciuroEsperanto
- Ardilla RojaSpanish
- ardilla comúnSpanish
- Ardilla Roja de EurasiaSpanish
- OravEstonian
- Katagorri arruntBasque
- سنجاب قرمزPersian
- oravaFinnish
- ÍkorniFaroese
- Ecureuil d'EurasieFrench
- Écureuil rouxFrench
- AcouérolArpitan
- BuumkaatNorthern Frisian
- SghirateFriulian
- IikhoarntsjeWestern Frisian
- Iora ruaIrish
- FeòragScottish Gaelic
- feòrag ruadhScottish Gaelic
- feòragan ruadhaScottish Gaelic
- EsquíoGalician
- Esquío vermelloGalician
- סנאי אדוםHebrew
- Crvena vjevericaCroatian
- WjewjerčkaUpper Sorbian
- Európai mókusHungarian
- Bajing merahIndonesian
- SakłataiyaqInupiaq
- RauðíkorniIcelandic
- Scoiattolo rossoItalian
- Scoiattolo comuneItalian
- キタリスJapanese
- Ӆӑңкиkca
- ТиінKazakh
- 청서Korean
- 청설모Korean
- KaweechelchenLuxembourgish
- VinvèraLigurian
- EiketsLimburgish
- Paprastoji voverėLithuanian
- Raudonā vāvereLatgalian
- VāvereLatvian
- Parastā vāvereLatvian
- Rudā vāvereLatvian
- УрMari
- Црвена верверицаMacedonian
- Бараан хэрэмMongolian
- Tupai MerahMalay
- ekornNorwegian Bokmål
- europeisk ekornNorwegian Bokmål
- rødekornNorwegian Bokmål
- EekhoornDutch
- Euraziatische Rode EekhoornDutch
- Gewone eekhoornDutch
- Rode eekhoornDutch
- Oravuolo
- Wiewiórka pospolitaPolish
- Schërieul comunPiedmontese
- لال گالڑWestern Panjabi
- EsquiloPortuguese
- Esquilo-vermelhoPortuguese
- Veverița roșieRomanian
- Veveriță comunăRomanian
- Veveriță de stejarRomanian
- Veveriță roșcatăRomanian
- Veveriță roșieRomanian
- ВекшаRussian
- Обыкновенная белкаRussian
- ТииҥYakut
- FerretScots
- oarriNorthern Sami
- veverica obyčajnáSlovak
- Navadna vevericaSlovenian
- Ketri i kuqAlbanian
- Европска веверицаSerbian
- Црвена веверицаSerbian
- Crvena vevericaSerbian
- KateekerSaterland Frisian
- ekorreSwedish
- rödekorreSwedish
- WewjůrkaSilesian
- சிவப்பு அணில்Tamil
- Гади тиенTatar
- Pulang ardilyaFilipino
- Kızıl SincapTurkish
- АзыйTuvinian
- КоньыUdmurt
- ВивіркаUkrainian
- Білка звичайнаUkrainian
- Вивірка звичайнаUkrainian
- SchiratoVenetian
- Sóc đỏVietnamese
- SpirouWalloon
- 魔王松鼠Chinese
- 歐亞紅松鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red squirrel
Other species in the same genus Sciurus.
Eastern gray squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis
Caucasian squirrel
Sciurus anomalus
Japanese squirrel
Sciurus lis
Fox squirrel
Sciurus niger
Abert's squirrel
Sciurus aberti
Western gray squirrel
Sciurus griseus
CompareRed squirrel vs Eastern gray squirrelRed squirrel vs Caucasian squirrelRed squirrel vs Japanese squirrelRed squirrel vs Fox squirrel
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the red squirrel?
The red squirrel is a mammal, a rodent of the family Sciuridae in the order Rodentia.
How heavy is a red squirrel?
An adult red squirrel has a body mass of 333 g, which places it in the small size class (10 g to 1 kg).
What does the red squirrel eat?
The red squirrel is a herbivore.
Is the red squirrel endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classifies the red squirrel as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a red squirrel live?
The red squirrel has a lifespan of 12 years, and our sources report values up to 14.8 years.
How many young does a red squirrel have?
A red squirrel has 4.43 young per litter and 2 litters per year, after a gestation period of 38 days.
When does a red squirrel reach sexual maturity?
A red squirrel reaches sexual maturity at 302.3 days, with reported values from 300.2 to 304.4 days.
Who named the red squirrel?
The red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-squirrel
“Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-squirrel.
@misc{red_squirrel_2026,
title = {Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-squirrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}