Nevada mammals

Rock Squirrel in Nevada

Otospermophilus variegatus

Native to Nevada S5 Secure in Nevada

Not listed as nonindigenous in Nevada by USGS NAS; native to its Nevada range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Rock Squirrel in Nevada, by the numbers

Common in Nevada 40th most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

260 occurrence records
183 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

260 total records count every Nevada occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 259; the monthly chart covers the 257 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Rock Squirrel in Nevada

Most sightings fall in June to July.

257 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Nevada records (table)
MonthRecords
January3
February4
March13
April31
May36
June73
July47
August25
September17
October6
November0
December2

Monthly rock squirrel occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Nevada, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in June–July.

Occurrence map

Where Rock Squirrel has been recorded in Nevada

259 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

259 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Great Basin National Park 44
Gold Butte National Monument 13
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 7
Basin and Range National Monument 7
Rainbow Mountain Wilderness Area 5
Mt. Charleston Wilderness 5
La Madre Mountain Wilderness Area 3
Spring Mountains 1

Protected places with the most rock squirrel sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Nevada

CountyRecords
Clark County 124
White Pine County 91
Lincoln County 25
Nye County 12
Elko County 4
Lander County 3
Other localities 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 6 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada records for the rock squirrel are anchored by Great Basin National Park and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. They show where people have reported it, not how many animals live there.

The Nevada records bridge the state’s southern desert country and its higher central or northern ranges. That broad spread matters more than any single hotspot. The strongest reporting falls in summer, when Nevada’s high country is easiest to reach but low deserts are hottest. That may shape where observers submit records.

The file combines 183 research-grade iNaturalist records and 227 GBIF records. Those 410 records measure documented encounters, not Nevada’s population size. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Nevada in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"