Genus Neotamias, the western USA chipmunks
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. The below is my collection of images from Neotamias and Tamias captured in the US over the years. Where possible I have separated images into subspecies as well.
In this Gallery:
Siskiyou chipmunk (Neotamias siskiyou)
Craters of the Moon Chipmunk (Neotamias cratericus)
Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus)
Uinta Chipmunk or Hidden Forest Chipmunk (Neotamias umbrinus)
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus)
Cliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)
Gray-collared Chipmunk (Neotamias cinereicollis)
Hopi Chipmunk, Neotamias rufus
Palmer's Chipmunk (Neotamias palmeri)
Panamint Chipmunk (Neotamias panamintinus)
Lodgepole Chipmunk (Neotamias speciosus)
Long-eared Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrimaculatus
Colorado Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus)
Townsend's Chipmunk (Neotamias townsendii)
Yellow-cheeked Chipmunk (Neotamias ochrogenys)
Gray-footed Chipmunk (Neotamias canipes)
Olympic Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus caurinus)
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Species Galleries
The Siskiyou chipmunk (Neotamias siskiyou) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to northern California and central Oregon in the United States.
The Siskiyou chipmunk is closest in appearance to Allen's chipmunk (Neotamias senex) and the yellow-cheeked chipmunk (Neotamias ochrogenys). Its coat is brown-gray, with a pattern of five dark brown and four gray stripes along its back; the central stripe tends to be blackish and darker in color compared to the other stripes. Additionally, Neotamias siskiyou have three brown and two gray stripes on each cheek. The specific appearance of the Siskiyou chipmunk varies due to the large geographic range the species inhabits, with larger and darker members found on the coasts compared to those found further inland.
Neotamias siskiyou is found in northern California, in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, as well as in Oregon, in the Siskiyou mountains.[5] The extent of the Siskiyou chipmunk is delineated in the south by the Klamath River, and in the north by the Rogue River.
Siskiyou Chipmunk (Neotamias siskiyou) northern coastal California
Craters of the Moon Chipmunk (Neotamias cratericus) - New species endemic to southeastern Idaho, specifically the lava fields of Craters of the Moon National Park and surrounding areas. There is little available literature currently and most publications still keep it as a subspecies of Least Chipmunk. I will treat it as its own species for this gallery.
The Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) is a species of order Rodentia in the family Sciuridae. It is found in western North America: parts of Canada and the United States.
These chipmunks are normally found in brush-covered areas, and in California, they inhabit an elevation range of around 975 to 2,900 meters.
Their body color is dark and reddish, mixed with cinnamon, with five longitudinal dark (black or mixed black) stripes that are separated by four lighter stripes. The outer pair of pale stripes is creamy white and narrower, and the more median pair is a gray or smoke gray. The sides of the head each have three dark stripes, with two lighter in between, and the crown is black or smoke gray.
Males and females have similar brain size and roughly the same tail length, ear length from notch, and length of lower tooth row, but females are larger in other body measurements; average body mass varies, with large males weighing an average of 49.7 g and large females averaging 53.5 g. Though male-biased size sexual dimorphism is common among mammals, N. amoenus exhibits female-biased dimorphism.
In some areas, where range overlap with the least chipmunk or red-tailed chipmunk occurs, it may be difficult or impossible to distinguish the species in the field; laboratory examination of skeletal structures may be required
Yellow Pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) - Grand Tetons, Wyoming
The Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus) is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America.
It is the smallest species of chipmunk, measuring about 15.7–25 cm (6.2–9.8 in) in total length with a weight of 25–66 g (0.88–2.33 oz). The body is gray to reddish-brown on the sides, and grayish white on the underparts. The back is marked with five dark brown to black stripes separated by four white or cream-colored stripes, all of which run from the nape of the neck to the base of the tail. Two light and two dark stripes mark the face, running from the tip of the nose to the ears. The bushy tail is orange-brown in color, and measures 10–11 cm (3.9–4.3 in) long.[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.
As in other chipmunks, there are four toes on each of the forefeet and five on the hindfeet. Females have eight teats. The brain to body mass ratio for least chipmunks is lower than that for other species of chipmunk living in the same area, suggesting that they prefer less complex environments.
Least chipmunks are found through most of the western United States from northern New Mexico and western North and South Dakota to eastern California, Oregon and Washington, and throughout much of southern and western Canada from Yukon and southeastern British Columbia to central Ontario, and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and neighboring parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Throughout this range, as many as 21 subspecies have been identified. Less arboreal than other chipmunks,[4] least chipmunks are commonly found in sagebrush habitats and coniferous woodland, and along rivers, but they also occur in alpine meadows, and on the edges of the northern tundra.
The following galleries are of some of the many subspecies of Least Chipmunk. All identifications come from the maps in Encyclopedia of Life (EOL).
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus consobrinus) – Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon
Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus borealis) - Black Hills South Dakota, Custer State Park (scanned slides from older trip)
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus pictus)-Mono Lake, California
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus operarius) -Colorado, Rocky Mountains National Park, southern Wyoming
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus scrutator) - Mammoth Lakes California, east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus minimus) - Fossil Buttes National Monument, Southwestern Wyoming
The Uinta Chipmunk or Hidden Forest Chipmunk (Neotamias umbrinus), 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.
The Uinta chipmunk is a medium-sized chipmunk, with adults ranging from 20 to 24 cm (7.9 to 9.4 in) in length, including the tail at 7 to 11 cm (2.8 to 4.3 in), and weighing an average of 67 g (2.4 oz). The predominant color of the summer coat varies from yellowish brown-grey to dark brown, often with a reddish tinge. Three wide, distinct dark blackish-brown stripes run down the back, separated and surrounded by four paler stripes of pale grey to white fur. Also, three dark and three pale stripes are on each side of the face. In the winter, the coat becomes duller and more greyish, and the stripes become less distinct. The ears are black, and the underparts a very pale grey. The tail has orange and black fur, with a paler fringe of hair on the underside.
The Uinta chipmunk lives in montane and subalpine forests of the western United States, between 1,400 and 3,650 m (4,590 and 11,980 ft) elevation. It is most common at the margins of pine and fir forests, or in clearings, often near rocky terrain or steep slopes. Uinta chipmunks do not have a continuous, unbroken range, but are instead found in a number of disjunct localities, perhaps reflecting changing patterns of forest cover during the Pleistocene. Seven subspecies are currently recognized:
N. u. adsitus - southern Utah and northern Arizona
N. u. inyoensis - central Nevada and eastern California
N. u. fremonti - western Wyoming
N. u. montanus - western Colorado (see the below gallery)
N. u. nevadensis - southern Nevada
N. u. sedulus - southeastern Utah (see the below gallery)
N. u. umbrinus - northern Utah