Otospermophilus is a genus of ground squirrels in the family Sciuridae, containing three species from Mexico and the United States. Otospermophilus was formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus Spermophilus, as a subgenus or species group. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene has shown Spermophilus to be paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots,[1] it is now separated, along with six other genera.[2]
The three species in Otospermophilus are listed below. These are the same species that were previously grouped in the subgenus Otospermophilus.[2]