Sciuridae
Sciurus niger
(fox squirrel)

Image Caption:
Pictured is the heart and pericardium of a juvenile male fox squirrel.  The organ has a height of 25.6  ± 0.5 mm, a width of 17.8 ± 0.5 mm, and a mass of 3 ± 0.5 g.  It looks like a miniture human heart, but although the squirrel's heart has about the same mass proportions to body mass as a human, to support the energetic life of a tree squirrel, it beats an average of  259 times per minute (Koprowski, 1994), several times faster than a human heart.

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Sciurus niger rufiventer (Fox Squirrel) heart

Works Cited:

Koprowski, J. L.  (1994).  Sciurus niger.  Mammalian Species (479).  The American Society of Mammalogists.  (University of Arizona Link).
Image Location: United States, South Dakota, Brookings
Image Date: 2008APR18
Image Species: Sciurus niger rufiventer
Sex: Male
Age: Juvenile
(EXIF Info is accurate – stamped in UTC).

Web Page and Pictures By Peter Leitheiser
Updated: 2009APR22