Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn vs Northern Palm Squirrel

Marsilea quadrifolia compared with Funambulus pennantii

Key Differences

Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn is Not Evaluated while Northern Palm Squirrel is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn	Northern Palm Squirrel
Kingdom	Plantae (Pflanzen)	Animalia (Tier)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordatiere)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Echte Farne)	Mammalia (Säugetiere)
Order	Salviniales (Schwimmfarnartige)	Rodentia (Nagetiere)
Family	Marsileaceae	Sciuridae (Squirrels)
Genus	Marsilea	Funambulus
Species	Marsilea quadrifolia	Funambulus pennantii

Conservation Status

Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn

NE — Not Evaluated

Northern Palm Squirrel

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn	Northern Palm Squirrel
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India, Vietnam), Europe (5 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Northern Palm Squirrel

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found in United Arab Emirates.

Gewöhnlich-Kleefarn

<em>Marsilea quadrifolia</em>, commonly known as the common water clover or European waterclover, is an aquatic fern in the family Marsileaceae. Its conservation status is listed as Not Evaluated by the IUCN. The species has a broad native distribution spanning Asia and Europe, and has been introduced to North America, where it now occurs in scattered freshwater habitats. It typically grows in shallow ponds, rice paddies, slow-moving streams, and muddy lake margins, rooting in soft sediments while its four-leaflet fronds float on or emerge above the water surface. The distinctive four-lobed leaves strongly resemble a four-leaf clover, lending the plant its common name. <em>Marsilea quadrifolia</em> is a heterosporous fern, producing specialized reproductive structures called sporocarps that contain both megaspores and microspores, allowing reproduction under conditions unfavorable for vegetative growth. The plant is remarkably drought-tolerant, as sporocarps can remain viable for decades. It typically spreads through both vegetative rhizome growth and spore dispersal. Biological traits including average lifespan, height, and mass remain poorly documented in standardized databases. The species plays a role in shallow aquatic ecosystems as a colonizing plant, stabilizing soft substrates and providing microhabitat for invertebrates and small vertebrates in the temperate freshwater zones it inhabits.