Townsend's chipmunk

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Species of rodent

title: "Townsend's chipmunk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["neotamias", "mammals-described-in-1839", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot", "taxa-named-by-john-bachman", "rodents-of-the-united-states", "rodents-of-canada", "endemic-fauna-of-the-pacific-northwest"] description: "Species of rodent" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsend's_chipmunk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of rodent ::

| name = Townsend's chipmunk | image = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | genus = Neotamias | species = townsendii | authority = (Bachman, 1839) | synonyms = Tamias townsendii Bachman, 1839 | range_map = Tamias townsendii distribution map.png

Townsend's chipmunk (Neotamias townsendii) 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.

Description

A large chipmunk, adults can be 36 cm from nose to the tip of its tail. In much of its range, it is the only chipmunk; it can be identified by its tail which is grayish above and reddish below, and by its brown coloration with indistinct tawny stripes.

Biology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Neotamias_townsendii_02_MWNH_742.jpg" caption="Skull of a Townsend's chipmunk"] ::

Townsend's chipmunk hibernates in regions where the winter is harsh, but in other parts of its range that have a more mild climate it can be active year-round. It is omnivorous, eating a variety of plants and insects and even birds' eggs.{{cite book |last = Hartson |first = Tamara |title = Squirrels of the West |publisher = Lone Pine Publishing |year = 1999 |pages = 22, 12–56 |isbn = 1-55105-215-6}} Townsend's chipmunks in the Oregon Coast Range have higher population densities in areas with dense shrubbery, especially salal (Gaultheria shallon).{{Cite journal | last1 = Hayes | first1 = John P. | last2 = Horvath | first2 = Eric G. | last3 = Hounihan | first3 = Patrick | title = Townsend's chipmunk populations in Douglas-fir plantations and mature forests in the Oregon Coast Range | journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology | volume = 73 | pages = 67–73 | publisher = National Research Council | location = Ottawa | date = January 1995 | url = http://rparticle.web-p.cisti.nrc.ca/rparticle/AbstractTemplateServlet?calyLang=eng&journal=cjz&volume=73&year=1995&issue=1&msno=z95-008 | issn = 1480-3283 | access-date = 16 January 2010 | doi=10.1139/z95-008| url-access = subscription

References

References

  1. Cassola, F.. (2016). "''Neotamias townsendii''".
  2. Ornithology of the United States of North America, John Kirk Townsend, 1839

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

neotamiasmammals-described-in-1839taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbottaxa-named-by-john-bachmanrodents-of-the-united-statesrodents-of-canadaendemic-fauna-of-the-pacific-northwest