Menetes berdmorei
Silhouette: Joseph Smit · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Berdmore's ground squirrel, Indochinese ground squirrel, or Berdmore's squirrel (Menetes berdmorei) is a ground squirrel found in Southeast Asia, from the east of Myanmar and Yunnan (southern China) to Vietnam and Cambodia.
The squirrel has a grey-brown back and a white belly. Most striking are stripes on the side - on each side one beige and below a black stripe. The head is pointy, so this squirrel resembles a mouse or a treeshrew. Its length is 20 cm (7.9 in), not including the 15 cm (5.9 in) long tail.
As a ground squirrel, it is rarely found on trees, but spends most of the time in the thick underwoods of the rainforests. However, it is also found in fields or villages, especially in rice fields it is sometimes omnipresent. Despite it being quite common only very little is known about the life of this squirrel. Despite its name, it is not a close relative of the ground squirrels of the tribe Marmotini Wikipedia →
Recording0:10
Thailand · 2023
© Sam Hambly · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Indochinese Ground Squirrel sighting in Ho Chi Minh City on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 7 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June–August, October and December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Indochinese Ground Squirrel in Ho Chi Minh City on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indochinese Ground Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Ho Chi Minh City, in our data
Ho Chi Minh City is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Indochinese Ground Squirrel sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sciuridae
The closest relatives of the Indochinese Ground Squirrel that you can see in Ho Chi Minh City (family Sciuridae, Squirrels) are Pallas's Squirrel (about 60%), Cambodian Striped Squirrel (about 40%) and Finlayson's Squirrel (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indochinese Ground Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Ho Chi Minh City (39 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
