Arctic Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus parryii) lives in arctic tundra across Northern North America. It feeds on grass and seeds. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Arctic Ground Squirrel
- Arctic ground squirrels survive winter with body temperatures that plunge to near-freezing, a feat no other hibernator matches. During hibernation it can reduce its body temperatures from 37 °C (99 °F) to as little as −3 °C (27 °F). During hibernation, its core body temperature reaches temperatures down to −2.9 °C (26.8 °F) while its brain is kept just above freezing, which is colder than any other hibernating mammal, and its heart rate drops to about one beat per minute. Hibernation lasts seven to eight months, but torpor is not continuous. Bouts of lowered metabolism and body temperature lasting up to about three weeks are interrupted every two to three weeks by arousals, during which the squirrel, still asleep, shivers for 12 to 15 hours to rewarm to its normal body temperature before cooling again, showing a remarkable physiological dance that could inspire new ways to preserve human organs.
- In Yukon, squirrel numbers skyrocket with altitude, revealing how climate and terrain dictate survival. Trapping between 2008 and 2010 found late-summer densities of 0.38 squirrels per hectare in boreal forest and 1.25 per hectare in low-elevation meadow. Alpine densities of about five to six squirrels per hectare in 2008 and 2009 were essentially unchanged from those recorded in 1975 and 1976. A 2008 to 2013 survey of 158 colony sites across about 25,000 square kilometres (9,700 sq mi) of southwest Yukon found occupancy rising with elevation, from about 4% of boreal forest sites to about 93% of alpine sites, with the highest burrow activity in alpine tundra. These patterns show the species thrives where the ground stays thawed enough for burrows, while lower, colder zones become inhospitable.
- Genetic studies reveal the Arctic ground squirrel is not a single, tidy species but a patchwork of hidden lineages. Phylogeographic studies of mitochondrial DNA have identified geographically distinct clades within the species. An Arctic clade occupies Arctic and subarctic populations north of the Yukon River in northern Alaska and Canada, while a Southeast clade, which includes U. p. plesius, occurs south of the Yukon River in south-central Alaska and western Canada; further clades occur in western and southwestern Alaska and on the Bering Sea islands. A 2026 ancient DNA study of Pleistocene squirrel droppings from the Klondike found that U. parryii mitochondrial lineages do not form a single group, and its authors concluded that the current taxonomy of the species is not monophyletic and called for nuclear genomic work to resolve it, highlighting how much hidden diversity still waits to be untangled.
- They have been reported to excavate up to 18 tonnes of soil per hectare each year, aerating it and bringing nutrients to the surface.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeNorthern North America
HabitatArctic tundra
DietGrass and seeds
About the Arctic Ground Squirrel
In the harsh, sun-scorched tundras of the Arctic, a tiny, unassuming hero emerges, as the Arctic Ground Squirrel darts through the rocky outcrops and low-lying vegetation with an air of quiet determination. With a twitch of its whiskers and a flick of its bushy tail, this diminutive creature navigates its frozen world with remarkable agility, its paws barely making a sound as it scurries across the permafrost in search of sustenance. As it burrows into the earth, the Arctic Ground Squirrel's remarkable ability to survive the extreme conditions of its native habitat is a testament to its enduring spirit and adaptability.
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