Chipmunks are small, striped
rodents
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are nat ...
of the family
Sciuridae
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
. Chipmunks are found in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, with the exception of the
Siberian chipmunk
The Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''), also called common chipmunk is native to northern Asia from central Russia to China, Korea, and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It was imported from South Korea and introduced in Europe as a pet in th ...
which is found primarily in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks may be classified either as a single genus, ''Tamias'', or as three genera: ''
Tamias
''Tamias'' is a genus of chipmunks in the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. The genus includes a single living species, the eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus''). The genus name ''Tamias'' ( el, ταμίας) means "treasurer", "steward", ...
'', of which the
eastern chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the chipmunk genus ''Tamias''.
Etymology
The name "chipmunk" comes from the Ojibwe word ''ajidamoo'' (or possibl ...
(''T. striatus'') is the only living member; ''
Eutamias
''Eutamias'' is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It includes a single living species, the Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''). The genus is often treated as a subgenus of ''Tamias'', which is now res ...
'', of which the
Siberian chipmunk
The Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''), also called common chipmunk is native to northern Asia from central Russia to China, Korea, and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It was imported from South Korea and introduced in Europe as a pet in th ...
(''E. sibiricus'') is the only living member; and ''
Neotamias
''Neotamias'' is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It contains 23 species, which mostly occur in western North America. Along with ''Eutamias'', this genus is often considered a subgenus of ''Tamias''.
Spe ...
'', which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western North American, species. These classifications were treated as subgenera due to the chipmunks' morphological similarities.
As a result, most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the chipmunks into a single genus. However, studies of
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
show that the divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the genetic differences between ''
Marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...
a'' and ''
Spermophilus
''Spermophilus'' is a genus of ground squirrels in the Sciuridae, squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to ...
'',
[ so the three genera classifications have been adopted here.
Tamias striatus2.jpg, '']Tamias striatus
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the chipmunk genus ''Tamias''.
Etymology
The name "chipmunk" comes from the Ojibwe word ''ajidamoo'' (or possib ...
'', Eastern Chipmunk
Streifenhoernchen.jpg, ''Eutamias sibiricus
The Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''), also called common chipmunk is native to northern Asia from central Russia to China, Korea, and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It was imported from South Korea and introduced in Europe as a pet in th ...
'', Siberian Chipmunk
Tamias minimus.jpg, ''Neotamias minimus
The least chipmunk (''Neotamias minimus'') is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America.
Description
It is the smallest species of chipmunk, measuring about in total length with a weight of . The body is gray to ...
'', Least Chipmunk
The common name originally may have been spelled "chitmunk", from the native Odawa
The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...
(Ottawa) word ''jidmoonh'', meaning "red squirrel" (''cf.'' Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
''ajidamoo''). The earliest form cited in the ''Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' is "chipmonk", from 1842. Other early forms include "chipmuck" and "chipminck", and in the 1830s they were also referred to as "chip squirrels", probably in reference to the sound they make. In the mid-19th century, John James Audubon
John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...
and his sons included a lithograph of the chipmunk in their ''Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'', calling it the "chipping squirrel rhackee". Chipmunks have also been referred to as "striped squirrels", "timber tigers", "minibears", and "ground squirrels" (although the name "ground squirrel" usually refers to other squirrels, such as those of the genus ''Spermophilus
''Spermophilus'' is a genus of ground squirrels in the Sciuridae, squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to ...
'').
Diet
Chipmunks have an omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...
diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and other fruits, and bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...
s.[ They also commonly eat grass, shoots, and many other forms of plant matter, as well as ]fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, insects and other arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s, small frogs, worms, and bird eggs. They will also occasionally eat newly hatched baby birds.[ Around humans, chipmunks can eat cultivated grains and vegetables, and other plants from farms and gardens, so they are sometimes considered pests.][ Chipmunks mostly forage on the ground, but they climb trees to obtain nuts such as ]hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
s and acorn
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally
two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...
s.[ At the beginning of autumn, many species of chipmunk begin to stockpile nonperishable foods for winter. They mostly cache their foods in a larder in their burrows and remain in their nests until spring, unlike some other species which make multiple small caches of food.][ Cheek pouches allow chipmunks to carry food items to their burrows for either storage or consumption.]
Ecology and life history
Eastern chipmunks, the largest of the chipmunks, mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing litters of four or five young twice each year. Western chipmunks breed only once a year. The young emerge from the burrow after about six weeks and strike out on their own within the next two weeks.
These small mammals fulfill several important functions in forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s. Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in seedling
A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...
establishment. They consume many different kinds of fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, including those involved in symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with trees, and are an important vector for dispersal of the spores of subterranean sporocarps (truffles) which have co-evolved with these and other mycophagous
Fungivory or mycophagy is the process of organisms consuming fungi. Many different organisms have been recorded to gain their energy from consuming fungi, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, amoebas, gastropods, nematodes, bacteria and othe ...
mammals and thus lost the ability to disperse their spores through the air.
Chipmunks construct extensive burrow
An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...
s which can be more than in length with several well-concealed entrances. The sleeping quarters are kept clear of shells, and feces are stored in refuse tunnels.
The eastern chipmunk hibernates in the winter, while western chipmunks do not, relying on the stores in their burrows.
Chipmunks play an important role as prey for various predatory mammals and birds but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly with regard to bird eggs and nestling
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight s ...
s, as in the case of eastern chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the chipmunk genus ''Tamias''.
Etymology
The name "chipmunk" comes from the Ojibwe word ''ajidamoo'' (or possibl ...
s and mountain bluebird
The mountain bluebird (''Sialia currucoides'') is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and s ...
s (''Siala currucoides'').
Chipmunks typically live about three years, although some have been observed living to nine years in captivity.
Chipmunks are diurnal. In captivity, they are said to sleep for an average of about 15 hours a day. It is thought that mammals which can sleep in hiding, such as rodents and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that must remain on alert.
Genera
Genus ''Eutamias
''Eutamias'' is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It includes a single living species, the Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''). The genus is often treated as a subgenus of ''Tamias'', which is now res ...
''
* Siberian chipmunk
The Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''), also called common chipmunk is native to northern Asia from central Russia to China, Korea, and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It was imported from South Korea and introduced in Europe as a pet in th ...
, ''Eutamias sibiricus''
Genus ''Tamias
''Tamias'' is a genus of chipmunks in the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. The genus includes a single living species, the eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus''). The genus name ''Tamias'' ( el, ταμίας) means "treasurer", "steward", ...
''''Tamias''
Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed.
* Eastern chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the chipmunk genus ''Tamias''.
Etymology
The name "chipmunk" comes from the Ojibwe word ''ajidamoo'' (or possibl ...
, ''Tamias striatus''
* †''Tamias aristus
''Tamias aristus'' is an extinct species of chipmunk that lived during the late Pleistocene epoch. It was characterized from a fossilized skull found in a limestone quarry in Ladds, Bartow County, Georgia. The name is derived from the Greek aris ...
''
Genus ''Neotamias
''Neotamias'' is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It contains 23 species, which mostly occur in western North America. Along with ''Eutamias'', this genus is often considered a subgenus of ''Tamias''.
Spe ...
''
* Allen's chipmunk
Allen's chipmunk (''Neotamias senex'') is a species of chipmunk. It is also known as the shadow chipmunk. It is native to the western United States, where it occurs in California, Nevada, and Oregon. It is a common species of the Sierra Nevada. ...
, ''Neotamias senex''
* Alpine chipmunk
The alpine chipmunk (''Neotamias alpinus'') is a species of chipmunk native to the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada of California.
Description
Alpine chipmunks share the typical pattern of genus ''Neotamias'', being gray-brown overall and ...
, ''Neotamias alpinus''
* Buller's chipmunk
Buller's chipmunk (''Neotamias bulleri'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is ...
, ''Neotamias bulleri''
* California chipmunk
The California chipmunk or chaparral chipmunk (''Neotamias obscurus'') is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is found in Baja California, Mexico and in southern California in the United States
The United States of A ...
, ''Neotamias obscurus''
* Cliff chipmunk
The cliff chipmunk (''Neotamias dorsalis'') is a small, bushy-tailed squirrel that typically lives along cliff walls or boulder fields bordering Pinyon-juniper woodlands in the Western United States and Mexico (commonly spotted in northern Arizo ...
, ''Neotamias dorsalis''
* Colorado chipmunk
The Colorado chipmunk (''Neotamias quadrivittatus'') is a species of chipmunk in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Description
It can be found most often in co ...
, ''Neotamias quadrivittatus''
* Durango chipmunk
The Durango chipmunk (''Neotamias durangae'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to Mexico.
Distribution
This species has a disjunct distribution, with populations in the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Orient ...
, ''Neotamias durangae''
* Gray-collared chipmunk, ''Neotamias cinereicollis''
* Gray-footed chipmunk
The gray-footed chipmunk (''Neotamias canipes'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to New Mexico and in the Sierra Diablo and Guadalupe Mountains in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas in the United States. Its natural hab ...
, ''Neotamias canipes''
* Hopi chipmunk
The Hopi chipmunk, ''Neotamias rufus'', is a small chipmunk found in Colorado, Utah and Arizona in the southwestern United States. It was previously grouped with the Colorado chipmunk, ''T. quadrivittatus''. This species is listed as "Least Co ...
, ''Neotamias rufus''
* Least chipmunk
The least chipmunk (''Neotamias minimus'') is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America.
Description
It is the smallest species of chipmunk, measuring about in total length with a weight of . The body is gray to ...
, ''Neotamias minimus''
* Lodgepole chipmunk
The Lodgepole chipmunk (''Neotamias speciosus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in the U.S. state of California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly ...
, ''Neotamias speciosus''
* Long-eared chipmunk
The long-eared chipmunk (''Neotamias quadrimaculatus''), also called the Sacramento chipmunk or the four-banded chipmunk, is a species of rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is endemic to the central and northern Sierra Nevada of Califor ...
, ''Neotamias quadrimaculatus''
* Merriam's chipmunk
Merriam's chipmunk (''Neotamias merriami'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in central and southern California in the United States and a small area in northern Baja California, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, ...
, ''Neotamias merriami''
* Palmer's chipmunk
Palmer's chipmunk (''Neotamias palmeri'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae, endemic to Nevada. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description
Palmer's chipmunk resembles other chipmunks in ...
, ''Neotamias palmeri''
* Panamint chipmunk
The Panamint chipmunk (''Neotamias panamintinus'') is a species of rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is Endemism, endemic to desert mountain areas of southeast California and southwest Nevada in the United States.
It is considered a s ...
, ''Neotamias panamintinus''
* Red-tailed chipmunk
The red-tailed chipmunk (''Neotamias ruficaudus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Alberta and British Columbia in Canada and Montana, Idaho and Washington in the United States.
Description
The red-tailed chipmunk ...
, ''Neotamias ruficaudus''
* Siskiyou chipmunk
The Siskiyou chipmunk (''Neotamias siskiyou'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to northern California and central Oregon in the United States.
Anatomy and morphology
The Siskiyou chipmunk is closest in appearance ...
, ''Neotamias siskiyou''
* Sonoma chipmunk
The Sonoma chipmunk (''Neotamias sonomae'') is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is endemic to northwestern California in the United States. Members of Neotamias are characterized by having 2 premolars. ''N. sonomae'' has ...
, ''Neotamias sonomae''
* Townsend's chipmunk
Townsend's chipmunk (''Neotamias townsendii'') is a species of rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It lives in the forests of the Pacific Northwest of North America, from extreme southwestern British Columbia through western Washington and ...
, ''Neotamias townsendii''
* Uinta chipmunk
The Uinta chipmunk or hidden forest chipmunk (''Neotamias umbrinus''), is a species of chipmunk in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to the United States. Formerly known as ''Tamias umbrinus'', phylogenetic studies have shown it to be sufficie ...
, ''Neotamias umbrinus''
* Yellow-cheeked chipmunk
The yellow-cheeked chipmunk (''Neotamias ochrogenys''), also known as the redwood chipmunk, is a species of rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is endemic to areas near the coast of northern California in the United States where it inha ...
, ''Neotamias ochrogenys''
* Yellow-pine chipmunk
The yellow-pine chipmunk (''Neotamias amoenus'') is a species of order Rodentia in the family Sciuridae. It is found in western North America: parts of Canada and the United States.
These chipmunks are normally found in brush-covered areas, and ...
, ''Neotamias amoenus''
In popular culture
* Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...
, an animated virtual band
* Chip 'n' Dale
Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company.
Concept
The characters were first drawn by Bill Justice and introduced in the 1943 Pluto short ''Private P ...
, cartoon Disney chipmunks
References
Further reading
* Baack, Jessica K. and Paul V. Switzer. "Alarm Calls Affect Foraging Behavior in Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias Striatus, Rodentia: Sciuridae)." ''Ethology.'' Vol. 106. Dec. 2003. 1057–1066.
* Gordon, Kenneth Llewellyn. ''The Natural History and Behavior of the Western Chipmunk and the Mantled Ground Squirrel.'' Oregon: 1943
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q22364
Articles containing video clips
Extant Miocene first appearances
Mammal common names
Taxa named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger