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Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: ''Tamias'', of which the eastern chipmunk (''T. striatus'') is the only living member; ''Eutamias'', of which the Siberian chipmunk (''E. sibiricus'') is the only living member; ''Nototamias'', which consists of three extinct species, and ''Neotamias'', 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. Joseph C. Moore reclassified chipmunks to form a subtribe Tamiina in a 1959 study, and this classification has been supported by studies of mitochondrial DNA. The common name originally may have been spelled "chitmunk", fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siberian Chipmunk
The Siberian chipmunk (''Eutamias sibiricus''), also called common chipmunk, is a species of chipmunk 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 the 1960s. Description Typically the Siberian chipmunk has four white stripes and five dark stripes along the back. It is long, a third of which is the tail. The weight of adults depends on the time of year and food availability. It exhibits slight variations in coloration in different geographic regions. Even though the Siberian chipmunk normally grows to . The Siberian chipmunk does not exhibit sexual dimorphism, and size and body proportions are the only way to distinguish younger chipmunks from older ones. Its small size may contribute to its relatively short life from two to five years in the wild. However, in captivity (animal), captivity it lives up to ten years. Distribution This species is native to Russia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the genus ''Tamias''. Etymology The name "chipmunk" probably comes from the Ojibwe word (or possibly ''ajidamoonh'', the same word in the Ottawa dialect of Ojibwe), which translates literally as "one who descends trees headlong." First described by Mark Catesby in his 1743 ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands'', the chipmunk was eventually classified as ''Sciurus striatus'' by Linnaeus, meaning "striped squirrel" in Latin. The scientific name was changed to ''Tamias striatus'', meaning "striped steward", by Johann Illiger in 1811.Wishner page 113 Description A small species, it reaches about in length including the tail, and a weight of . It has reddish-brown fur on its upper body and five dark brown stripes contrasting with light brown stripes along its back, ending in a dark tail. It has lighter fur on the lower pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ''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'' () means "treasurer", "steward", or "housekeeper ...''. Species * Alpine chipmunk, ''Neotamias alpinus'' * Yellow-pine chipmunk, ''Neotamias amoenus'' * Buller's chipmunk, ''Neotamias bulleri'' * Gray-footed chipmunk, ''Neotamias canipes'' * Gray-collared chipmunk, ''Neotamias cinereicollis'' * Cliff chipmunk, ''Neotamias dorsalis'' * Durango chipmunk, ''Neotamias durangae'' * Merriam's chipmunk, ''Neotamias merriami'' * Least chipmunk, ''Neotamias minimus'' * California chipmunk, ''Neotamias obscurus'' * Yellow-cheeked chipmunk, ''Neotamias ochro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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'' () means "treasurer", "steward", or "housekeeper", which is a reference to the animals' role in plant dispersal through their habit of collecting and storing food for winter use. The genus ''Tamias'' was formerly divided into three subgenera that, in sum, included all chipmunk species: ''Tamias'', the eastern chipmunk and other fossil species; '' Eutamias'', of which the Siberian chipmunk (''E. sibiricus'') is the only living member; and '' Neotamias'', which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western, species. These classifications are subjective, and most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the chipmunks in a single genus. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA show that the divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the genetic dissimilarity b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 restricted to the eastern chipmunk of North America. ''Neotamias'', which now includes the western North American chipmunks, has also been included in ''Eutamias''. In addition to the Siberian chipmunk, several fossil species have been assigned to this genus: *'' Eutamias ertemtensis'' Qiu, 1991 – late Miocene to Pliocene of China *'' Eutamias lishanensis'' Qiu et al., 2008 – late Miocene of China *'' Eutamias orlovi'' Sulimski, 1964 – Pliocene of Poland and Bulgaria *'' Eutamias sihongensis'' Qiu and Long, 1986 – early Miocene of China;Qiu et al., 2008, p. 115 subsequently made the type species of a separate genus '' Heterotamias''. *'' Eutamias wimani'' (Young, 1927) – Pleistocene of ChinaSulimksi, 1964, p. 168; Qiu et a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 native to all major land masses except for Antarctica, and several oceanic islands, though they have subsequently been introduced to most of these land masses by human activity. Rodents are extremely diverse in their ecology and lifestyles and can be found in almost every terrestrial habitat, including human-made environments. Species can be arboreal, fossorial (burrowing), saltatorial/ricochetal (leaping on their hind legs), or semiaquatic. However, all rodents share several morphological features, including having only a single upper and lower pair of ever-growing incisors. Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters. Once included with rodents, rabbits, hares, and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheek Pouches
Cheek pouches are pockets on both sides of the head of some mammals between the jaw and the cheek. They can be found on mammals including the platypus, some rodents, and most monkeys, as well as the marsupial koala. The cheek pouches of chipmunks can reach the size of their body when full. Description and function Cheek pouches are located in the thickness of the flange on both sides of the head of some mammals. Monkeys have open cheek pouches within the oral cavity, but they open out in some rodents of America. Hence the name "diplostomes" is associated with them, which means "two mouths." In some rodents, such as hamsters, the cheek pouches are remarkably developed; they form two bags ranging from the mouth to the front of the shoulders. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire described that some bats of the genus ''Nycteris'' have an amazing form of cheek pouches, as they have a narrow opening, through which the bat can introduce air, closing the Nasolacrimal canal, nasal canal thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omnivore
An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutrients and energy of the sources absorbed. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet. Omnivores come from diverse backgrounds that often independently evolved sophisticated consumption capabilities. For instance, dogs evolved from primarily carnivorous organisms (Carnivora) while pigs evolved from primarily herbivorous organisms (Artiodactyla). Despite this, physical characteristics such as tooth morphology may be reliable indicators of diet in mammals, with such morphological adaptation having been observed in bears. The variety of different animals that are classified as omnivores can be placed into further sub-categories depending on their feeding behaviors. Frug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoarding (animal Behavior)
Hoarding or caching in ethology, animal behavior is the storage of food in locations hidden from the sight of both Conspecificity, conspecifics (animals of the same or closely related species) and members of other species.Vander Wall, Stephen B. (1990) Food Hoarding in Animals. University of Chicago Press. Most commonly, the function of hoarding or caching is to store food in times of surplus for times when food is less plentiful. However, there is evidence that a certain amount of caching or hoarding is actually undertaken with the aim of ripening the food so stored, and this practice is thus referred to as ‘ripening caching’. The term hoarding is most typically used for rodents, whereas caching is more commonly used in reference to birds, but the behaviors in both animal groups are quite similar. Hoarding is done either on a long-term basiscached on a seasonal cycle, with food to be consumed months down the lineor on a short-term basis, in which case the food will be cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, many dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context, "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (Dehiscence (botany), indehiscent). Most seeds come from fruits that naturally free themselves from the shell, but this is not the case in nuts such as hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, which have hard shell walls and originate from a compound ovary. Definition A seed is the mature fertilised ovule of a plant; it consists of three parts, the embryo which will develop into a new plant, stored food for the embryo, and a protective seed coat. Botany, Botanically, a nut is a fruit with a woody pericarp developing from a syncarpous gynoecium. Nuts may be contained in an Bract#Involucral bracts, involucre, a cup-shaped structure formed from the flower bracts. The involucre may be scaly, spiny, leafy or tubular, depending ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nototamias
''Nototamias'' is a genus of fossil ground squirrels from the Miocene of North America. Species include ''Nototamias hulberti'' Pratt and Morgan, 1989; ''Nototamias ateles'' (Hall, 1930); and ''Nototamias complicatus'' Korth, 1992. Although the genus, characterized by fused roots on the lower cheekteeth, is often regarded as closely related to the chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...s, and ''N. ateles'' has even been regarded as a species of '' Tamias'', evidence for this relationship is poor and ''Nototamias'' may instead be near the origin of the Marmotini.Goodwin, 2008, p. 356 References Literature cited *Goodwin, H.T. 2008. Sciuridae. Pp. 255–376 in Janis, C.M., Gunnell, G.F. and Uhen, M.D. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
