Helminths of Squirrels (Sciuridae) from Mongolia

introduction The geographic distribution of the long-tailed ground squirrel, Urocitellus undulatus (Pallas 1778) extends through a wide band of central Asia including suitable habitats in Kazakhstan across southern and eastern Siberia through Mongolia and into northern China (Tinnin et al. 2002). Although patchy in occurrence through this region, these squirrels are found in great abundance in some areas with numerical densities sometimes exceeding 18 individuals/hectare (ha) (Tinnin 2002) with some observers reporting very high densities of " …hundreds all over the plains " (Allen 1940). Published information on endoparasites of U. undulatus has also historically been patchy in time and space. In Mongolia, four species of helminths have been reported from this host: Ctenotaenia mar-In contrast, there have been nine publications that examined the parasite fauna of the long-tailed ground squirrel in eastern Siberia, reporting 35 species of helminths. Six of these are surveys from the The three additional papers were each a single species description from the regions of Tuva (Sulimov 1961a, 1961b) and Yakutsia (Ryzhikov 1956). abstract Two species of ground squirrels, Urocitellus undulatus and Spermophilus alashanicus, were collected and examined for parasites from two localities in Mongolia in 1999. A total of 24 individuals of U. undulatus were examined resulting in a total of six taxa of helminths found, including: Ascaris tarbagan, Physaloptera massino, Streptopharagus kutassi, Anoplocephaloides transversaria, Hymenolepis suslica, and Moniliformis sp. This represents four new species records and an additional host record for the country. Two individuals of S. alashanicus were examined and found to be uninfected. 2 occasional PaPers, museum of texas tecH university The Alashan ground squirrel, Spermophilus alashanicus Büchner 1888, in comparison has a rather restricted range across the Ala Shan Mountains of northwestern China and the Gobi Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia. However, the literature seems to indicate that they have never previously been examined for parasites. From 9 July through 2 August 1999, small mammals were collected from 13 sites as part of a survey of small mammal and parasite diversity in Mongolia (Tinnin et al. 2002; Tinnin et al. 2008). The results of the examination for helminths of 24 individuals of Urocitellus undulatus and two individuals of S. alashanicus are presented in this study. materials and metHods Squirrels were collected from two localities in Mongolia in July 1999. The first site, Ulaan Tsutgaalan (46º47'13"N, 101º57'47"E; 1,850 m elevation), is located in the Khangai Mountains of Övörkhangay Aimag (Province) in …