A review of bristly ground squirrels Xerini and a generic revision in the African genus Xerus Author Kryštufek, Boris Author Mahmoudi, Ahmad Author Tesakov, Alexey S. Author Matějů, Jan Author Hutterer, Rainer text Mammalia 2016 Warsaw, Poland 2015-12-12 80 5 521 540 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2015-0073 journal article 10.1515/mammalia-2015-0073 1864-1547 10476681 Xerus rutilus (Cretzschmar) : Unstriped ground squirrel Sciurus rutilus Cretzschmar, 1828 , p. 59 , plate 24. Type locality is “eastern slope of Abysinnia”; probably Massawa (cf. Thorington and Hoffmann 2005 ), today in Eritrea . Amtmann (1975) recognized eight subspecies but also noted that subspecific classification is uncertain. Etymology. – Xerus is Greek for “dry”; “called from the character of the fur, which is harsh and often spiny” ( Palmer 1904 ). Species name rutilus is Latin for “red” or “golden red” in allusion to the colouration of the pelage. Diagnosis. – Xerus rutilus is a medium-sized member of the subtribe Xerina and the only one with a plain, unstriped pelage ( Figure 2 ). The ears are moderately large, with the tragus present. Metatarsal pads are absent ( Pocock 1922 ). Females have posterior abdominal and the inguinal pairs of nipples (four nipples totally). The baculum (length= 6 mm ) is typified by a wide and spearhead-shaped upper surface of the blade and a low dorsal median crest ( Pocock 1923 ). Skull is moderately wide ( Figure 6 ) and the 3 rd upper premolar is absent ( Figure 8 ); the jugal bone is bluntly truncated against the lacrimal. Distribution. – Endemic to a Somali-Masai savannah ( Denys 1999 ), occupying dry bushland and savannah in Somalia , Ethiopia , Eritrea , Kenya , Tanzania and eastern Uganda ( O’Shea 1991 ) ( Figure 9 ). A century ago reported for Sinkat ( Anderson 1902 ) in what is today Sudan , but current presence in Sudan questioned by O’Shea (1991) . Remark. – Xerus rutilus is reviewed in O’Shea (1991) and Waterman (2013c) .