📸 PhotoPhoto: Peter Trimming · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Eurasian Red Squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris (Eurasian Red Squirrel · キタリス)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 0.48 kg is similar to a 500 mL bottle of water (Comparison).
- 💡 Its head-and-body length of 25 cm is slightly shorter than the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (29.7 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because seeds it buries and forgets often sprout into trees, it acts as a forest planter.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Eurasian Red Squirrel is an arboreal squirrel living in forests from Europe across northern Asia.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its coat varies from pale red to black with a white or cream belly, prominent ear tufts, and a long, bushy tail. It molts its coat twice a year.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Active in the trees by day, it enjoys conifer seeds, beech mast, and acorns, burying food in caches whose forgotten seeds often sprout into new trees. It produces two litters a year, usually of five to seven young.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is a forest species recorded in Korea and listed as "Cheongseolmo" (Korean name) on the National List of Species of Korea (National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR)).
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2023) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/221730864/221731049
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1001701
- • iucnredlist.org — 221731049
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053437 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053437
- • wikidata.org — Q4388
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Squirrel posing.jpg
- • doi.org — zenodo.6822965
- • animaldiversity.org — Sciurus vulgaris
- • species.nibr.go.kr — general-search
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Ferran Sayol · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.