''Tamias aristus'' is an extinct species of

chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

that lived during the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch. It was characterized from a fossilized skull found in a limestone quarry in Ladds,

Bartow County, Georgia Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, B ...

. The name is derived from the Greek aristos, meaning noblest. The fossil closely resembles the skull of ''

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 possibl ...

'', but all dimensions of the ''T. aristus'' skull are consistently 10-30% larger than the largest examples of ''T. striatus''. While it is suspected the two species are closely related, their relationship is unclear as ''T. striatus'' fossils have been found in the same fossil assemblage and poor

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrati ...

control in the area makes temporal relationships hard to identify.

References

Tamias Pleistocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1965 {{ground-squirrel-stub

See also

References