MythscribeMundus
THE NATURAL & IMAGINED WORLDAn illustrated compendium
mythscribe.cloudSearch/
NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Eastern Fox Squirrel

Sciurus (Sciurus) niger Linnaeus, 1758

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

A fox squirrel balancing on a small tree branch. Fox squirrels are larger and heavier than gray squirrels. Photo Credit: Gary Eslinger/USFWS

A fox squirrel balancing on a small tree branch. Fox squirrels are larger and heavier than gray squirrels. Photo Credit: Gary Eslinger/USFWS

USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public domain · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. It is sometimes mistaken for the American red squirrel or eastern gray squirrel in areas where the species coexist, though they differ in size and coloration.The word Sciurus came from the ancient Greek words skia, meaning shade, and oura, meaning tail. Niger refers to the black coloration.

Wikipedia contributors, Fox squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:37:18.982877+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Sciurus (Sciurus) niger Linnaeus, 1758
Name authority
Linnaeus, 1758
Common name
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Sciurus
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
  12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  14. subfamilySciurinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  15. tribeSciurini Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  16. genusSciurus Linnaeus, 1758
  17. subgenusSciurus Linnaeus, 1758
  18. speciesSciurus (Sciurus) niger Linnaeus, 1758

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Sciurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Allen's SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) alleni Nelson, 1898SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Caucasian SquirrelSciurus (Tenes) anomalus Gmelin, 1778SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Eastern Gray SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) carolinensis Gmelin, 1788SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Yellow-throated SquirrelSciurus (Guerlinguetus) gilvigularis Wagner, 1842SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Bolivian SquirrelSciurus (Guerlinguetus) ignitus (Gray, 1867)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Peters's SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) oculatus Peters, 1863SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Andean SquirrelSciurus (Guerlinguetus) pucheranii (Fitzinger, 1867)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Sanborn's SquirrelSciurus (Guerlinguetus) sanborni Osgood, 1944SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Southern Amazon Red SquirrelSciurus (Urosciurus) spadiceus Olfers, 1818SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Yucatan SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) yucatanensis J. A. Allen, 1877SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Variegated SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) variegatoides Ogilby, 1839SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Eurasian Red SquirrelSciurus (Sciurus) vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 219 records assigned to Sciuridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Middle America

North America

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180172 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4VNDM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.