Ardilla Gris Oriental vs small tortoiseshell

Sciurus carolinensis compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Ardilla Gris Oriental is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Ardilla Gris Oriental	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Sciuridae (Squirrels)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Sciurus (Tree Squirrels)	Aglais
Species	Sciurus carolinensis	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

Ardilla Gris Oriental and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Ardilla Gris Oriental

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Ardilla Gris Oriental	small tortoiseshell
Diet	Omnivore	—
Average Lifespan	6 years	—
Average Length	25 cm	—
Average Weight	500 g	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Ardilla Gris Oriental

Habitat

Typically found in a wide range of habitat types.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Indonesia), Europe (10 countries), and North America (Mexico, United States).

small tortoiseshell

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (41 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Ardilla Gris Oriental

Native to eastern North America but successfully introduced to Europe and other regions, the eastern gray squirrel is a medium-sized arboreal rodent weighing up to 600 g. Highly adaptable, thriving in forests, parks, and urban gardens, gray squirrels cache thousands of nuts and seeds each autumn, inadvertently planting trees through forgotten caches. In Britain, they have largely displaced the native red squirrel by outcompeting them for food.

small tortoiseshell

small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 10 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom