The yellow-cheeked chipmunk (''Neotamias ochrogenys''), also known as the redwood chipmunk, is a species of

rodent 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 na ...

in the squirrel 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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to areas near the coast of northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where it inhabits coastal coniferous forest.

Description

The yellow-cheeked chipmunk is the largest species in the 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 ...

'' and grows to a total length of including a tail of . It is a dark, tawny olive with five dark longitudinal stripes on the body, the central one along the spine being the most prominent, and three on the head, where the dark stripe running across the eye has pale stripes on either side. A pale patch of fur is found immediately behind the ear. The sides of the body are ochre which gradually fades to the paler underparts, where dark gray guard hairs are tipped with white. The bushy tail is dorsoventrally flattened, the upper surface being the same color as the body and the underside being reddish-brown to orange. The guard hairs on the tail are also tipped with white. It moults in the fall and the fur in the winter is duller colored, longer, and silkier.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-cheeked chipmunk is endemic to the coast region of northern California, where it is present in a strip of land nowhere wider than . The southern end of its range is a few kilometers north of

Bodega Bay Bodega Bay ( es, Bahía Bodega) is a shallow, rocky inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California in the United States. It is approximately across and is located approximately northwest of San Francisco and west of Santa Ros ...

and Freestone in

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

and the northern end is the Eel River in Humboldt County. It occurs at altitudes up to in the humid coastal strip of coniferous forest where an understory of shrubby growth occurs.

Behavior

The yellow-cheeked chipmunk is secretive in its habits and rarely seen, but it can be heard emitting its characteristic shrill double-syllable "chuck-chuck" call which is relatively low-pitched compared to other chipmunk species. This is repeated at regular intervals and is most similar to the call of

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''). Little is known of the reproductive habits of the yellow-cheeked chipmunk, but a female carrying four

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

es was caught in March and the

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...

of males are largest from March to June. The yellow-cheeked chipmunk feeds on the seeds and fruits of a variety of plants. Grass seeds have been found in its cheek pouches, so it may store some food for later use. In the early part of the year, fungi are eaten and the

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 from

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

trees and the seed capsules of stoneseed are eaten over a long period of the year. Insect wings have been found among the stomach contents, so some animal food may also be consumed.

Status

Although the yellow-cheeked chipmunk has a limited range with a total area of occupancy of only , the population is steady and it faces no particular threats, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

assesses it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21731078, from2=Q1761305 Mammals of the United States Neotamias Mammals described in 1897 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot