Neotamias quadrimaculatus
| Long-eared Chipmunk
(Neotamias quadrimaculatus) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Sciuromorpha |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subfamily: | Xerinae |
| Tribe: | Tamiini |
| Genus: | Neotamias |
| Binomial details | |
| Neotamias quadrimaculatus (J. E. Gray, 1867) | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
From Kelt et al. (2023): "Because T. quadrimaculatus has the smallest geographic range of any Sierra Nevada sciurid, it may be at risk of local extirpation or substantial range restriction in the face of climate change, large-scale high-severity wildfires, and other stochastic threats."
Similar species
Comparison with Neotamias senex
From Kelt et al. (2023): "Tamias quadrimaculatus and T. senex are closely related and they share similar ecological requirements (Grinnell and Storer 1924; Johnson 1943; Sutton 1995). They may be very challenging to distinguishable in the field (Sutton 1995), and they are known to hybridize (Frare et al. 2017)." In order to confidently differentiate these two species, DNA analysis is needed (see DNA analysis method in Kelt et al. 2023 and Demboski and Sullivan 2003).
References
Demboski JR, Sullivan J. 2003. Extensive mtDNA variation within the yellow-pine chipmunk, Tamias amoenus (Rodentia: Sciuridae), and phylogeographic inferences for northwest North America. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 26:389–408.
Frare CF, Matocq MD, Feldman CR, White AM, Manley PN, Jermstad KD, Hekkala ER. 2017. Landscape disturbance and sporadic hybridization complicate field identification of chipmunks. Journal of Wildlife Management 81:248–258.
Grinnell J, Storer TI. 1924. Animal life in the Yosemite: an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA.
Johnson DH. 1943. Systematic review of the chipmunks (genus Eutamias) of California. University of California Publications in Zoology 48:63–146.
Kelt DA, Coppeto SA, Van Vuren DH, Sullivan J, Wilson JA, Reid N. 2023. Niche conservatism versus niche differentiation in sympatric chipmunks in the northern Sierra Nevada. Journal of Mammalogy 104(5): 979-992.
Sutton D.A. 1995. Problems of taxonomy and distribution in four species of chipmunks. Journal of Mammalogy 76:843–850.