Xerinae

{{short description|Subfamily of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Borstenhörnchen 060319 2.jpg

| image_caption = South African ground squirrel (Xerus inauris)

| taxon = Xerinae

| authority = Osborn, 1910

| subdivision_ranks = Tribes and genera

| subdivision = Xerini

:Atlantoxerus

:Euxerus

:Geosciurus

:Spermophilopsis

:Xerus

Protoxerini

:Epixerus

:Funisciurus

:Heliosciurus

:Myosciurus

:Paraxerus

:Protoxerus

Marmotini

:Ammospermophilus

:Callospermophilus

:Cynomys

:Eutamias

:Ictidomys

:Marmota

:Neotamias

:Notocitellus

:Otospermophilus

:Poliocitellus

:Sciurotamias

:Spermophilus

:Tamias

:Urocitellus

:Xerospermophilus

}}

The Xerinae comprise a subfamily of squirrels, many of which are highly terrestrial. It includes the tribes Marmotini (marmots, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and other Holarctic ground squirrels), Xerini (African and some Eurasian ground squirrels), and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels).Thorington, R. W. and R. S. Hoffmann (2005). "Family Sciuridae". pp. 754–818 in Wilson, E. D. and Reeder, D. M. (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&q=Xerinae Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference], Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

The Xerinae first originated in Eurasia but later dispersed to other parts of the world. One of which was Africa, where they traveled via land bridges in the Miocene period, leading to the emergence of Protoxerini and Xerini ground squirrel tribes. Many Xerinae also dispersed to North America during the early Oligocene era, and with the help of global cooling and the expansion of grasslands, resulted in the emergence of the Marmotini ground squirrel tribe.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-013-9250-7 | doi=10.1007/s11692-013-9250-7 | title=Historical Biogeography and Body Form Evolution of Ground Squirrels (Sciuridae: Xerinae) | date=2014 | last1=Ge | first1=D. Y. | last2=Liu | first2=X. | last3=Lv | first3=X. F. | last4=Zhang | first4=Z. Q. | last5=Xia | first5=L. | last6=Yang | first6=Q. S. | journal=Evolutionary Biology | volume=41 | issue=1 | pages=99–114 | bibcode=2014EvBio..41...99G | url-access=subscription }}