Xerus fossil map
Where fossils of Xerus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 16.9 million years ago to the present (Burdigalian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Sciuridae |
| Named by | Hemprich and Ehrenberg 1833 |
| Fossil records | 32 occurrences at 15 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Ethiopia, Tanzania, Chad, CĂ´te d'Ivoire, France |
| Rock formations | Vogel River Series, Shungura, txn:41486, Hadar |
About Xerus
Xerini is a tribe of ground squirrels occurring in Africa and Asia. With the tribes Marmotini (Holarctic ground squirrels) and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels), they form the subfamily Xerinae. There are five living genera—Xerus, the unstriped ground squirrel; Euxerus, the striped ground squirrel; Geosciurus, the Cape and mountain ground squirrels; Atlantoxerus, containing the living Barbary ground squirrel of North Africa and some extinct species; and Spermophilopsis, containing the long-clawed ground squirrel of Central Asia.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Xerini (revision 1187641427), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q894233.
