---
title: "Citello del Caucaso"
description: "Spermophilus musicus — Mammiferi. The Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel (Spermophilus musicus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/caucasian-mountain-ground-squirrel
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Citello del Caucaso

> Spermophilus musicus — Mammiferi. The Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel (Spermophilus musicus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae.

- Scientific name: *Spermophilus musicus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammiferi)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi), `mountains` (Montagne)
- iNaturalist observations: 355
- Wikidata: [Q2019318](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2019318)
- iNaturalist taxon: [46061](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/46061)

## Names

- en: Caucasian Mountain Ground Squirrel
- de: Kaukasus-Ziesel
- fr: Souslik du Caucase
- it: Citello del Caucaso

## Countries with the most observations

RU (267), UA (14)

## Summary

The Caucasian Mountain ground squirrel (Spermophilus musicus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Its taxonomic status has been the subject of much debate, and it has at times been treated as a subspecies of the little ground squirrel. It was formerly considered endemic to the North Caucasus (Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia-Alania), but a 2024 analysis suggested that all populations of the little ground squirrel to the west of the Volga River should be included in this species. According to this definition, the Caucasian ground squirrel is widespread, ranging from Dagestan to Crimea and between the…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Mountain_ground_squirrel

## Photo

![Citello del Caucaso](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/caucasian-mountain-ground-squirrel/medium.jpg)

Photo: Анна Анисимова · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/297978045

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/caucasian-mountain-ground-squirrel?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).