Red-tailed chipmunk

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Red-tailed chipmunk
Red-tailed Chipmunk (Tamias ruficaudus).jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Neotamias
Species:
N. ruficaudus
Binomial name
Neotamias ruficaudus
(A. H. Howell, 1920)
Tamias ruficaudus distribution map.png
Synonyms

Tamias ruficaudus

The red-tailed chipmunk (Neotamias ruficaudus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. [3] It is found in Alberta and British Columbia in Canada and Montana, Idaho and Washington in the United States. [1]

Description

The red-tailed chipmunk is a large species with a total length of about 230 mm (9 in) including a bushy tail of 105 mm (4 in). The mass varies from about 54 g (1.9 oz) in the spring to 60 g (2.1 oz) in the fall. Females are marginally larger than males. The head is mottled grayish-brown with dark stripes above, through and below the eye. The body is basically orange-brown with five blackish stripes separated by four pale gray, tawny or cream-colored ones. The shoulders, sides, rump and flanks are tawny or buff. The underparts are creamy-white suffused with pinkish-buff. The upper side of the tail is black suffused with pinkish-buff and the underside is tawny tipped with pinkish-buff. In winter the animal's color is greyer and less tawny. [4]

In some areas, where range overlap with the yellow-pine chipmunk occurs, it may be difficult or impossible to distinguish the two species in the field; laboratory examination of skeletal structures may be required. [5] [6]

Distribution and habitat

The red-tailed chipmunk is native to southeastern British Columbia, southwestern Alberta, northeastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana. It is found at altitudes between 720 and 2,400 metres (2,360 and 7,870 ft) in coniferous forests, other woodland, forest edges, glades and bushy areas at the edge of upland meadows. It primarily lives on the ground but sometimes climb trees. [1]

Biology

The red-tailed chipmunk feeds mainly on seeds and berries and sometimes carries these in its cheek pouches. [4] Frequently eaten foods include the seeds of fir and pine, honeysuckle berries, cranberries, whortleberries, huckleberries, the seeds of locust trees and of snow brush, buckbrush, thistle, willow herb, grasses and many others types of seed. Dandelion flowers and leaves are sometimes eaten and the animal has been caught in traps baited with meat. [4] It does not hibernate but it may have periods of torpor. [4]

Breeding takes place in the late spring and summer, a litter size averaging five young born after a gestation period of about 31 days. Most nests are underground in a burrow but tree nests are occasionally used, often placed immediately underneath dense growths of dead twigs. The young first emerge from the nest when aged about 45 days. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipmunk</span> Tribe of mammals (rodent (marmot))

Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of Sciuridae, the squirrel family; specifically, they are ground squirrels (Marmotini). Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden-mantled ground squirrel</span> Species of rodent

The golden-mantled ground squirrel is a ground squirrel native to western North America. It is distributed in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, and through much of the western United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Least chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The least chipmunk is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western harvest mouse</span> Species of rodent

The western harvest mouse is a small neotomine mouse native to most of the western United States. Many authorities consider the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse to be a subspecies, but the two are now usually treated separately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The cliff chipmunk 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. Cliff chipmunks are very agile, and can often be seen scaling steep cliff walls. Cliff chipmunks do not amass body fat as the more common ground squirrel does. They create caches of food which they frequent during the cold winter months.

Thomas's rope squirrel or redless tree squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest giant squirrel</span> Species of rodent

The forest giant squirrel or Stanger's squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and plantations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-pine chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The yellow-pine chipmunk is a species of order Rodentia in the family Sciuridae. It is found in parts of Canada and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray-footed chipmunk</span> Species of rodent in the family Sciuridae

The gray-footed chipmunk is a terrestrial and forest-dwelling species of chipmunk and 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 habitat are coniferous forests. First discovered in 1902, they are distinguished by the unique gray dorsal colouring on the hind feet, hence the common name. They demonstrate sexual dimorphism, and the female is larger than the male.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray-collared chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The gray-collared chipmunk is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-cheeked chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The yellow-cheeked chipmunk, 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 inhabits coastal coniferous forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer's chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

Palmer's chipmunk is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae, endemic to Nevada. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is named after Theodore Sherman Palmer, an American botanist and zoologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-eared chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The long-eared chipmunk, 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 California and Nevada in the United States. Long-eared chipmunks have the longest ears of all species of chipmunks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen's chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

Allen's chipmunk, also known as the shadow chipmunk, is a species of chipmunk native to the western United States. Occurring in California, Oregon, and Nevada, it is a common species of the Sierra Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonoma chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The Sonoma chipmunk 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 two premolars. N. sonomae has two subspecies: N. s. alleni and N. s. sonomae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lodgepole chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The Lodgepole chipmunk is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in the U.S. state of California at elevations from 1,500 to 3,000 metres. The Lodgepole chipmunk has a variety of common names including: Tahoe chipmunk, Sequoia chipmunk, Mt. Pinos chipmunk, and San Bernardino chipmunk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townsend's chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

Townsend's chipmunk 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 western Oregon. Townsend's chipmunk is named after John Kirk Townsend, an early 19th-century ornithologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uinta chipmunk</span> Species of rodent

The Uinta chipmunk or hidden forest chipmunk, 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 sufficiently distinct from the eastern chipmunk as to be placed in a separate genus, Neotamias. The same studies have also suggested that Palmer's chipmunk may actually be a subspecies of Uinta chipmunk, although the two are still generally regarded as separate species.

<i>Neotamias</i> Genus of rodents

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cassola, F. (2016). "Neotamias ruficaudus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T42577A22268024. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T42577A22268024.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. "Neotamias ruficaudus". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  3. Thorington, R.W. Jr; Hoffman, R.S. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 816. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Best, Troy L. (1993). "Tamias ruficaudus". Mammalian Species (452): 1–7. doi:10.2307/3504175. JSTOR   3504175.
  5. Nagorsen, David (2005). Rodents and Lagomorphs of British Columbia. Royal BC Museum. p. 182. ISBN   0-7726-5232-5.
  6. Naughton, Donna (2012). The Natural History of Canadian Mammals. Canadian Museum of Nature and University of Toronto Press. pp. 66–71. ISBN   978-1-4426-4483-0.