How many baby Spotted ground squirrels are in a litter?
A Spotted ground squirrel (Spermophilus spilosoma) usually gives birth to around 6 babies.With 2 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 12 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 6 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 5.5 cm (0′ 3″). They are a member of the Sciuridae family (genus: Spermophilus). An adult Spotted ground squirrel grows up to a size of 14.5 cm (0′ 6″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The spotted ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus spilosoma) is a species of ground squirrel in the rodent family Sciuridae. It is found throughout Mexico and the central and western United States. Characterized by a white spotted back, the spotted ground squirrel is one of the smallest squirrels found in North America. They are mainly herbivorous, but also eat insects. A burrowing mammal, the spotted ground squirrel will make tunnels to store its food, as well as shelter and hibernation quarters.
Other animals of the family Sciuridae
Spotted ground squirrel is a member of the Sciuridae, as are these animals:
- Four-striped ground squirrel with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Amazon dwarf squirrel weighting only 92 grams
- Belding’s ground squirrel with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Red-cheeked ground squirrel with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Cascade golden-mantled ground squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Mentawai squirrel weighting only 296 grams
- Cream-coloured giant squirrel weighting around 1.16 kilograms (2.56 lbs)
- Olympic marmot with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Philippine tree squirrel raching a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Northern Amazon red squirrel weighting only 700 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Spotted ground squirrel
Those animals also give birth to 6 babies at once:
- Desert dormouse
- Gray leaf-eared mouse
- Woolly mouse opossum
- White-eared opossum
- Long-tailed weasel
- Round-tailed ground squirrel
- Wyoming pocket gopher
- Northern quoll
- Cinereus shrew
- Siberian weasel
Animals with the same weight as a Spotted ground squirrel
What other animals weight around 107 grams (0.24 lbs)?
- Ihering’s three-striped opossum weighting 112 grams
- Northern pocket gopher weighting 105 grams
- Big-eared climbing rat weighting 86 grams
- Himalayan field rat weighting 100 grams
- Highland streaked tenrec weighting 102 grams
- Slender treeshrew weighting 112 grams
- Tweedy’s crab-eating rat weighting 119 grams
- Isarog shrew-rat weighting 122 grams
- Greater tree mouse weighting 105 grams
- Wetzel’s climbing mouse weighting 89 grams
Animals with the same size as a Spotted ground squirrel
Also reaching around 14.5 cm (0′ 6″) in size do these animals:
- Desert pocket gopher gets as big as 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Harpy fruit bat gets as big as 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Gray-cheeked flying squirrel gets as big as 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Northern pocket gopher gets as big as 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Cape elephant shrew gets as big as 11.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Broad-striped tube-nosed fruit bat gets as big as 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Seram long-tailed mosaic-tailed rat gets as big as 14.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Narrow-striped marsupial shrew gets as big as 16.3 cm (0′ 7″)
- Hainan gymnure gets as big as 13.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Sierra Madre ground squirrel gets as big as 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)