What is "xerini"

Xerini is a tribe of ground squirrels occurring in Africa and Asia. With the tribes Marmotini ( Holarctic ground squirrels) and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels), they form the subfamily Xerinae. There are three living genera— Xerus, the African ground squirrels; Atlantoxerus, containing the living Barbary ground squirrel of North Africa and some extinct species; and Spermophilopsis, containing the long-clawed ground squirrel of Central Asia.