least chipmunk

LC - Least Concern

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

Least chipmunk is the most widespread and also the smallest of the North American chipmunks. In Canada it occurs from Ontario to Yukon Territory. In the United States it occurs west of the Great Plains and in the upper Great Lakes region. In Minnesota it occurs in the Arrowhead and north-central regions and is absent from the remainder of the state. There are 21 subspecies of least chipmunk. Only one, Neotamias minimus neglectus, occurs in Minnesota. It is found at the edges and in the openings, clearcuts, and disturbed areas of coniferous and mixed forests.

The adult is 7¼″ to 8¾″ (185 to 222 mm) long and weighs 1.48 to 1.87 ounces (42 to 53 grams). It weighs about half as much as an eastern chipmunk. The coat (pelage) on the sides is reddish-brown in the front, grayish brown in the rear. The rump is grayish-brown. The belly is grayish-white. There are five dark brown or black stripes on the back separated by white or cream-colored stripes. The middle stripe stretches from the nape of the neck to the base of the tail. On each side of the face there are three dark brown stripes separated by two white or cream-colored stripes. The facial stripes are well defined and highly visible. The tail is 3″ to 4½″ (76 to 114 mm) long, orangish-brown, and bushy.

Total length: 7¼″ to 8¾″ (185 to 222 mm)

Head and body: 3⅝″ to 4½″ (93 to 114 mm)

Tail: 3″ to 4½″ (76 to 114 mm)

Edges, openings, clearcuts, and disturbed areas within coniferous and mixed forests

When running it holds its tail erect.

10 years

Least chipmunk nests under stumps, logs, and rocks. It winters in a burrow it digs that reaches up to one meter underground.

Seeds, nuts, fruits, acorns, snails, insect eggs and larvae, and small birds and mammals

Sources

4, 24, 29, 30, 76.

Common

Tribe
All chipmunks were previously placed in the tribe Marmotini. In 1963 they were placed in the new tribe Tamiini. In 1984 Tamiini was submerged back into Marmotini with the holarctic ground squirrels. Today almost all sources place the chipmunks, whether one genus or three, in the tribe Marmotini. iNaturalist appears to be the lone exception, placing all chipmunks in their own tribe Tamiini.

Genus
Three subgenera were of the genus Tamias were previously recognized: Neotamias, Tamias, and Eutamias. A recent analysis (DeGruyter, 2015) showed an earlier evolutionary divergence of Neotamias from Tamias and Eutamias. The three subgenera were raised to genus level. Eutamias now contains a single living species, the Siberian chipmunk (Eutamias sibiricus). Noetamias now contains 23 species, mostly occurring in western North America. Tamias now contains just a single living species, the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus). Some sources, including ITIS, NCBI, The Taxonomicon, and Mammal Species of the World, continue to place all chipmunks in a subgenus of the genus Tamias.

Location: Cook County Gunflint Trail

Location: Cook County