CreatureData

Yellow ground squirrel

Spermophilus fulvus (Lichtenstein, 1823)

LCLeast Concernrodents

The yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus) is a species in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 596 g to 687.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus)
Photo: Yuriy75 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the yellow ground squirrel

Weight
596 g – 687.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
30.4 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
6src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the yellow ground squirrel live?

Not recorded

What is the yellow ground squirrel?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus) is a large and sturdy ground squirrel species native to Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. It inhabits sandy steppes with Artemisia, glasswort and tamarisk.

The yellow ground squirrel has naked soles on the hind feet excluding heels. It lives in large colonies, is strictly diurnal and forages mainly in the morning when the vegetation is still damp. Its diet includes bulbs, seeds, stems and leaves. It hibernates, but it may also aestivate.

From the Wikipedia article “Yellow ground squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_ground_squirrel&oldid=1350051056), 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 yellow ground squirrel endangered?

The yellow ground squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the yellow ground squirrel classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familySciuridae
  6. genusSpermophilus
  7. SpeciesSpermophilus fulvus (Lichtenstein, 1823)

Synonyms Arctomys fulvus, Citellus fulvus

Other names and names in other languages (24)
  • Long toothed ground squirrelEnglish
  • Yellow souslikEnglish
  • سنجاب الأرض الأصفرArabic
  • sysel žlutýCzech
  • GelbzieselGerman
  • Κίτρινος ΛαγόγυροςGreek
  • Ardilla de Tierra AmarillaSpanish
  • keskiaasiansuslikkiFinnish
  • Souslik fauveFrench
  • Souslik jauneFrench
  • Spermophile jauneFrench
  • sárga ürgeHungarian
  • Citello gialloItalian
  • オオバハタリスJapanese
  • ЗорманKazakh
  • 노랑땅다람쥐Korean
  • GulsiselNorwegian Bokmål
  • Gele GrondeekhoornDutch
  • suseł żółtyPolish
  • Желтый сусликRussian
  • Суслик жёлтыйRussian
  • rumena tekunicaSlovenian
  • Sarı GelengiTurkish
  • 沙黃鼠Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the yellow ground squirrel

Other species in the same genus Spermophilus.

CompareYellow ground squirrel vs European ground squirrelYellow ground squirrel vs Speckled ground squirrelYellow ground squirrel vs Little ground squirrelYellow ground squirrel vs Russet ground squirrel

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the yellow ground squirrel?

An adult yellow ground squirrel weighs 596 g – 687.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the yellow ground squirrel endangered?

The yellow ground squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long is the yellow ground squirrel pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 30.4 days.

What kind of animal is the yellow ground squirrel?

The yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus) belongs to the family Sciuridae in the order Rodentia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-ground-squirrel

MLA

“Yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-ground-squirrel.

BibTeX
@misc{yellow_ground_squirrel_2026,
  title = {Yellow ground squirrel (Spermophilus fulvus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-ground-squirrel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}