# Red squirrel (*Sciurus vulgaris*)

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

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 333 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 12 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 14.8 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 38 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.43 |
| Age at maturity | 9.93 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

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

## Common questions

### 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

- [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: Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-squirrel