Townsend's ground squirrel is a small rodent from the squirrel family. It lives in the steppes of the northwest of North America and spends most of the year in hibernation.
Townsend's ground squirrel differs from other ground squirrels by its short tail and adaptation to dry steppes. It loosens the soil, spreads seeds, and serves as important food for birds of prey and beasts.
meadows, prairies, forb glades on land
homogamy, reproduction always with fertilization, no alternation of generations
Worker
Tail size
birth time
Describes the act of excavating soil or substrate to locate or access food.
breeding
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
invertebrates
insects
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm and almost no rain
land coast flooded by tides — salt marshes, littoral zone
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
rains are very rare, almost a desert
conifer cones
Trophic type
all living animals without backbone
Filters
grass
Upcoming birthdays
Winter with snow
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
leaf
in a burrow
Desert and dry shrubs
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
cones of coniferous trees with seeds
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
dry, cold winter, lots of grass, few trees
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
fruits
roots
Lifespan average
nectar
in a terrestrial nest
grasses
live birth
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
seeds
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
nest hidden in an underground burrow
bulbs
digging
65 to 130 grams, 25 – 60 centimeters
Pets
Nearctic realm
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
sweet nectar and flower pollen
{name} jubilee
Claws count
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
Claws size
turns
Rascals
terrestrial herbaceous
terrestrial intertidal
Tail color
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
grazing
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
nest hidden in an underground burrow, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
steppe
herbivore
Summer almost without rain
Feeds by cropping or nibbling low-growing vegetation or algae.
Incisors size
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
leaves and stems of grasses and other herbaceous vegetation
Bro
normal sexual
Taxons
seeds, berries, fruits
almost no rain in summer, more precipitation in winter
if born as {name}
age
birth date
rest
bulbs and rhizomes — onion, tulip, narcissus
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
climbing
hibernation
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
teeth
burrow
Potential Habitat
lots of grass, few trees, rains are rare
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Plants
Gestation
land
{name} birthday
Food is gathered directly from leaf surfaces.
Nearctic realm
No results found
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
underground
On the map
bulbs
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Cold and almost dry
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
lots of grass, few trees, rains occur
Shelter used specifically for reproduction or nesting.
Maturity
Skin color
caring mother
bites off plants with teeth and carries them in cheek pouches
bird eggs
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
flowers
protection from sun
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Very dry
Neither
Moving up vertical surfaces like trunks or rocks to reach food.
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
What do they eat?
dry and cold almost all year round
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
from birth to death
much snow in winter, cold
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
Duration
live insects
This is me
Warm summer with almost no rain
Steppe
Gamers
How are they built?
Temperate steppe
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Asexual
swap
roots and plant tubers
Cheek pouches size
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Denotes a grassland or steppe habitat preference.
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Cold steppe
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
cheek pouch
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
embryo
Carrot
eggs
Incisors count
Length
kg
very hot and dry, rare rains, cacti live
Observations
◉{N} more on tap