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   » » Wiki: Chipmunk
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Chipmunks are small, striped of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in , with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in .


Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks are classified as four genera: , of which the ( T. striatus) is the only living member; , of which the Siberian chipmunk ( E. sibiricus) is the only living member; , which consists of three extinct species, and , 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", from the native (Ottawa) word jidmoonh, meaning "red squirrel" ( cf. Ojibwe ᐊᒋᑕᒨ ajidamoo).Nichols, John D. and Earl Nyholm (1995). A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. The earliest form cited in the Oxford English Dictionary 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 and his sons included a lithograph of the chipmunk in their Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, calling it the "chipping squirrel or hackee". Chipmunks have also been referred to as "ground squirrels" (although the name "ground squirrel" may refer to other squirrels, such as those of the genus ).


Diet
Chipmunks have an diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and other fruits, and . They also commonly eat grass, shoots, and many other forms of plant matter, as well as , insects and other , 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 and . 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. 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.
(1982). 9780816609529, University of Minnesota Press. .
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.
(2025). 9780826213594, University of Missouri Press. .

These small mammals fulfill several important functions in . Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in establishment. They consume many different kinds of , including those involved in with trees, and are a of the spores of subterranean sporocarps (truffles) in some regions.

Chipmunks construct extensive 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.

(2007). 9780801886829, Johns Hopkins University Press. .

The eastern chipmunk in the winter, while western chipmunks do not, relying on the stores in their burrows.

(2025). 9780691140926, Princeton University Press.

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 , as in the case of and mountain bluebirds ( Siala currucoides).

Chipmunks typically live about three years, although some have been observed living to nine years in captivity.

Chipmunks are . 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.Jennifer S. Holland "40 Winks?" (July 2011). National Geographic Vol. 220, No. 1.


Genera
Genus
  • Siberian chipmunk, Eutamias sibiricus

Genus Tamias, Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed.

Genus

  • Allen's chipmunk, Neotamias senex
  • , Neotamias alpinus
  • Buller's chipmunk, Neotamias bulleri
  • California chipmunk, Neotamias obscurus
  • , Neotamias dorsalis
  • Colorado chipmunk, Neotamias quadrivittatus
  • , Neotamias durangae
  • Gray-collared chipmunk, Neotamias cinereicollis
  • Gray-footed chipmunk, Neotamias canipes
  • , Neotamias rufus
  • , Neotamias minimus
  • Lodgepole chipmunk, Neotamias speciosus
  • Long-eared chipmunk, Neotamias quadrimaculatus
  • Merriam's chipmunk, Neotamias merriami
  • Palmer's chipmunk, Neotamias palmeri
  • Panamint chipmunk, Neotamias panamintinus
  • Red-tailed chipmunk, Neotamias ruficaudus
  • Siskiyou chipmunk, Neotamias siskiyou
  • , Neotamias sonomae
  • Townsend's chipmunk, Neotamias townsendii
  • , Neotamias umbrinus
  • Yellow-cheeked chipmunk, Neotamias ochrogenys
  • Yellow-pine chipmunk, Neotamias amoenus

Genus

(2023). 9782832538647, Frontiers Media SA. .

  • Nototamias ateles
  • Nototamias hulberti
  • Nototamias quadratus


In popular culture
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks, an animated virtual band
  • Chip 'n' Dale, cartoon Disney chipmunks


Further reading


External links
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