Talk:Sciuridae

2005 comment

I think is a bad article. The classification is a bad one. Current classification includes the Petauristinae among the Sciurinae and instead uses the subfamilies Sciurillinae, Ratufinae, Xerinae and Callosciurinae. Ucucha See Mammal Taxonomy 16:07, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Disputed (2005)

I think the recent posting that "the factual accuracy of this article is disputed" is extreme. What's listed on the page is the most widely used taxonomic hypothesis. Recent molecular data do not support it and suggest that another hypothesis is required (such as what Ucucha lists above). This happens constantly with taxonomies. If we tag all articles where the taxonomy is disputed, those tags will go on almost every page that deals with biological organisms. --Aranae 15:08, May 27, 2005 (UTC)

Merge with Squirrel?

Shouldn't this article be merged with Squirrel? They seem to be about the same animal.220.76.15.231 (talk) 04:35, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

There does seem to be a difference: Sciuridae refers to the entire family Sciuridae, which also contains marmots, prairie dogs, chipmunks, and some other animals. "Squirrel" largely refers to those Sciuridae which live in trees, though there are quite some exceptions (such as Spermophilus species which are called "ground squirrels").

I do actually think the merge would be a good idea, though. "Squirrel" may be used with a slightly different meaning, but it is also often simply used for the family as a whole (i.e., including marmots, chipmunks, and others). Another problem is that "squirrel" as used in the squirrel article is not a scientific term; it refers to a rather random assemblage of Sciuridae. Ucucha 05:13, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that marmots and chipmunkss are not referred to as squirrels in everyday speech (although they are by we zoology types), and that there's no great problem having an article for the everyday meaning of the word (squirrel), and another for the scientific grouping to which the squirrels belong (sciuridae). So I'm happy enough with the status quo. Anaxial (talk) 16:56, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

There is a discussion of the possible merging of parts of the Squirrel article into this page and the clear cut purposing of the remaining squirrel article on the Squirrel article talk page. Comments from authors of this page and interested individuals would be appreciated.Davefoc (talk) 18:55, 16 February 2009 (UTC)