Resumen

CASSINI, Guillermo H.  y  GUICHON, M. Laura. Morphological variations and diagnosis of the Red-Bellied Squirrel, Callosciurus erythraeus (Pallas, 1779), in Argentina. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.1, pp.39-48. ISSN 0327-9383.

The Red-Bellied Squirrel Callosciurus erythraeus, native to South-East Asia, has established a wild population in the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina) since 1973. In this study we describe general characteristics and morphometry of the squirrels, in particular pelage color variability (individuals with yellowcreamy underparts and no black stripe on their backs) at six sites in the County of Luján. In addition, we established three diagnostic characters to distinguish them from the two native squirrel species Sciurus aestuans and S. ignitus: (1) characteristics of the baculum, (2) number of transbullar septa and other skull features, and (3) number of functional mammae.

Palabras clave : Alien squirrels; Baculum; Cranial morphology; Native squirrels; Pelage colour.

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