Squirrel
By: M. F.
Kingdom| Phylum| Class| Order| Family| Genius Species| Works Cited
Animal Name: Arizona Gray Squirrel (Scirus arizonensis).
Kingdom: Animalia
They are all multicellular.
Most reproduce sexually
Most are capable of rapid movement
There 9 to 10 million animals on the face of the earth.
Phylum: Chordata
Are defined as organisms that posses a structure called notochord.
Bilateral symmetry, segmented body, three germ layers, ventral heart.
complete digestive system, bony and cartilaginous, single dorsal, hollow nerve cord.
Class: Mammalia
Three middle ear bones, hair and mammary glands.
malleus- jaws, ears; the same as incus and stapes.
Order: Rodentia
Largest order of mammals.
At least way 5 gms. \ largest 70 kg.
2,000 living species of them
Family: Sciuridae
Characterized by their relatively primitive jaw structure.
Zygomatic plate, massates.
Has the thought ever crossed your mind, if there are more to squirrels instead of just eating nuts? Well if you want to know then keep reading. This squirrel is called the Arizona Gray Squirrel (Scirus arizonensis). Squirrels are in the Animalia kingdom, and they have many characteristics that help tell what kind of squirrel they are. For example, they have patches of yellow behind their ears, have a black tail, and underparts and the side of the tail are white. This characteristic helps by telling the squirrels apart. Another example is, in the winter their gray fur starts to darken, now how cool is that! This characteristic helps them by keeping them warm in the cold because the sun is most attracted to black or any other dark color. Another example that the Gray Squirrel has, is the walnut juice stains on all of its feet. This characteristic helps tell what kinds of food they eat, and of course one of them is walnuts, but you'd be surprised that that's not the only thing they eat. For example, squirrels also eat fruits, bark, berries, flowers, and fungi.
Of course, like any other animal you may know, they have a habitat. For example, the main places squirrels live in are groves of old cavity-prone Arizona sycamores. They also live in Mexico because, that's where they can find their main food, for example, black walnuts and acorns. Well, this may seem surprising, you know how squirrels usually live in trees? Well, the Arizona Gray Squirrel does not, instead they live on lower levels. In conclusion, you can see that Arizona Gray Squirrels have many characteristics and habitats that help them.
I got all of my information and pictures from The Animal Diversity website, and the Google website.