parent_taxon xerinae
The Barbary ground squirrel (" ___MASK9___ getulus ") is a species of rodent in the family ___MASK56___ . It is monotypic within the genus " ___MASK9___ ". It is endemic to Western Sahara , Algeria and Morocco and has been introduced into the Canary Islands . Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland , temperate grassland and rocky areas where it lives colonially in burrows . It was first described by Linnaeus in 1758 . The ___MASK83___ comprise a tribe of squirrels found in Africa . The 30 species in six genera are : The ___MASK85___ comprise a subfamily of squirrels , many of which are highly terrestrial . It includes the tribes ___MASK94___ ( marmots , chipmunks , prairie dogs , and other Holarctic ground squirrels ) , Xerini ( African and some Eurasian ground squirrels ) , and ___MASK83___ ( African tree squirrels ) . The Holarctic is the name for the biogeographic realm that encompasses the majority of habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world , combining Wallace ' s Palearctic zoogeographical region , consisting of North Africa and all of Eurasia ( with the exception of the southern Arabian Peninsula , Southeast Asia , and the Indian subcontinent ), and the Nearctic zoogeographical region , consisting of North America north of Southern Mexico . These regions are further subdivided into a variety of ecoregions . Many ecosystems , and the ___MASK3___ and plant communities that depend on them , are found across multiple continents in large portions of this realm . The continuity of these ecosystems results from the shared glacial history of the realm . The floristic Boreal Kingdom corresponds to the Holarctic realm . Mexico (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total ___MASK17___ and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . The long - clawed ground squirrel (" ___MASK87___ leptodactylus ") is a species of rodent in the family ___MASK56___ . It is monotypic within the genus ___MASK87___ . It can be found in Afghanistan , Iran , Kazakhstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . Squirrels are members of the family ___MASK56___ , a family that includes small or medium - size rodents . The squirrel family includes tree squirrels , ground squirrels , chipmunks , marmots ( including woodchucks ), flying squirrels , and prairie dogs amongst other rodents . Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas , Eurasia , and Africa , and were introduced by humans to Australia . The earliest known squirrels date from the Eocene period and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to the dormouse among other living rodent families . ___MASK39___ is a tribe of ground squirrels occurring in Africa and Asia . With the tribes ___MASK94___ ( Holarctic ground squirrels ) and ___MASK83___ ( African tree squirrels ), they form the subfamily Xerinae . There are three living genera " Xerus ", the African ground squirrels ; " Atlantoxerus ", containing the living Barbary ground squirrel of North Africa and some extinct species ; and " ___MASK87___ ", containing the long - clawed ground squirrel of Central Asia . Africa is the world ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface ___MASK17___ and 20 . 4 % of its total land ___MASK17___ . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the world ' s ___MASK58___ population . The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north , both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the Indian Ocean to the southeast , and the Atlantic Ocean to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition .