Neotamias sonomae
| Sonoma Chipmunk
(Neotamias sonomae) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Sciuromorpha |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subfamily: | Xerinae |
| Tribe: | Tamiini |
| Genus: | Neotamias |
| Binomial details | |
| Neotamias sonomae (J. Grinnell, 1915) | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
Description
From Best (1993) for subspecies alleni (Marin and southern Sonoma counties): "In summer pelage (July-September), the top of the head... is fuscous sprinkled with smoke gray and cinnamon. The dark facial strip es are fuscous or fuscous black, shaded with cinnamon or tawny. The pale facial stripes are grayish white and clouded with pinkish cinnamon. The shoulders, foreback, and median pair of pale dorsal stripes ar e tawny or ochraceous tawny, and the stripes are mixed with white on the posterior back. The outer pair of pale dorsal stripes is dull whitish washed with cinnamon buff. The dark dorsal stripes are black (rarely fuscous). The lateral stripes are fuscous black, often indistinct and obscured by color of the sides. The sides are deep tawny. The rump is ochraceous tawny and mixed with cinnamon. The thighs are mixed fuscous and cinnamon buff, sprinkled with grayish white. The hind feet are cinnamon or cinnamon buff and shaded with fuscous. The front feet are cinnamon buff. Dorsally, the tail is fuscous black and mixed with tawny. Ventrally, the tail is tawny and bordered with fuscous black and tipped with a small amount of pale tilleul-buff. The underparts are grayish white and moderately washed with pale ochraceous buff or pinkish Duff shading to cinnamon around the base of the tail (color nomenclature follows Ridgway, 1912-Howell, 1929)... In winter pelage (November-June), similar to summer pelage, but duller and more brownish (less tawny). The dark dorsal stripes sometimes are fuscous black. The shoulders and sides are ochraceous tawny and shaded with russet. The median pair of pale dorsal stripes is grayish white obscured on the ant erior part of the back with tawny. The rump and thighs are tawny olive and shaded with ochraceous tawny. The underparts are grayish white and washed with tilleul buff or cinnamon buff (color nomenclature follows Ridgway, 1912-Howell, 1929)."
From Best (1993) for subspecies sonomae (north and east of Sonoma county, including Sonoma county): "In summer pelage (July-September), the top of the head.. is pale smoke-gray, mixed with sayal brown and bordered with fuscous. The pale facial stripes are grayish white. The postocular (posterior to eye) streak is fuscous and shaded with sayal brown. The submalar stripe (below eye) is shaded anteriorly to cinnamon. The ears are sayal brown anteriorly and mouse gray posteriorly. The postauricular patches (posterior to ear) are creamy white. The shoulders and posterior part of the back are between pinkish cinnamon and cinnamon buff, and shaded with fuscous. The median dorsal stripe is blackish and bordered with cinnamon. The outer pair of dark dorsal stripes is black or fuscous black, overlaid with ochraceous tawny. The median pair of pale stripes is smoke gray, sprinkled with cinnamon and overlaid with a wash of cinnamon on the anterior back. The outer pair of pale stripes is clear creamy white. The lateral stripes are nearly obsolete and the sides are ochraceous tawny. The rump and thighs are mouse gray, mixed with cinnamon buff. The hind feet are cinnamon buff, shading on the inside of the legs to pale pinkish-cinna mon. Dorsally, the tail is fuscous black, sprinkled with pale buff. Ventrally, the tail is between tawny and ochraceous tawny and is bordered with fuscous black and edged with tilleul buff. The underparts are creamy white and sometimes tinged with pale pinkish.cinnamon (color nomenclature follows Ridgway, 1912-Howell, 1929)... The winter pelage (November) is similar to the summer pelage, but darker. The head is vandyke brown and sprinkled with grayish white. The dark facial stripes are vandyke brown, shaded with blackish. The ears are fuscous anteriorly and smoke gray posteriorly. The median dorsal stripe is blackish and edged with russet. The outer dorsal stripes are russet and shaded with blackish. The sides are dull tawny sprinkled with fuscous and shade above is russet. The dorsal stripes are pale smoke-gray; the median pair is washed with tawny. The thighs are hair brown and sprinkled with grayish white. The hind feet are cinnamon buff and shaded with fuscous. Dorsally, the tail is sayal brown, overlaid with blackish and sprinkled with grayish white. Ventrally, the tail is hazel bordered with blackish and edged with gray ish white. The under parts are creamy white (color nomenclature follows Ridgway, 1912-Howell, 1929)."
Museum type specimens
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Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904.
External measurements
Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.
| Part of range | Reference | Total length | Tail length | Hindfoot length | Ear length | Mass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 220–227 | 93–103 | 33–39 | 15–22 | 42–65 |
Skull
Greatest length of skull is 37-40 mm (Sutton, 1992).
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Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Dorsal view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Ventral view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Lateral view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Dorsal view of the mandible. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Ventral view of the mandible. -
Holotype: USNM 135177. Neotamias sonomae alleni. Adult male. Inverness, Marin County, California. Collected 16 November 1904. Lateral view of the left mandible.
Similar species
References
Best TL. 1993. Tamias sonomae. Mammalian Species (444):1-5.
Sutton DA. 1992. Tamias amoenus. Mammalian Species (390):1-8.