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Neotamias amoenus

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Yellow-pine Chipmunk
(Neotamias amoenus)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Rodentia
Suborder:Sciuromorpha
Family:Sciuridae
Subfamily:Xerinae
Tribe:Tamiini
Genus:Neotamias
Binomial details
Neotamias amoenus (J. A. Allen, 1890)
Other resources
Full taxonomic details at MDD

The Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) is a small chipmunk found in a variety of habitats in the mountainous areas of western United States and western Canada.

Description

From Sutton (1992): "Color of the body is dark and reddish, with the crown of the head black to smoke gray, mixed with cinnamon. Color differences among the subspecies are: sides of the body range from pinkish cinnamon (T. a. affinis) or cinnamon buff (T. a. monoensis) through sayal brown to tawny and ochraceous tawny (T. a. luteiventris, T. a. ludibundus, and T a. felix). Rump and thighs are cinnamon, pinkish cinnamon, cinnamon buff, or ochraceous tawny, mixed in each case with smoke gray; hind feet vary from pale-pinkish cinnamon through cinnamon buff to sayal brown. The under surface of the tail is pinkish cinnamon, clay color, cinnamon, sayal brown, tawny, or ochraceous tawny. The ears are fuscus black, broadly margined posteriorly with buffy (Howell, 1929). Five longitudinal stripes on the body are separated by four subequal light stripes. Three dark stripes, separated by two light stripes, are on each side of the head. The dark, dorsal stripes are black or fuscous black, often shaded or mixed with tawny, ochraceous tawny or cinnamon. The median pair of pale dorsal stripes is smoke gray or pale smoke gray, usually mixed with cinnamon or tawny. The outer pair of pale stripes is clear, creamy white, narrower, and less conspicuous than the inner, and in T. a. felix is mixed with ochraceous tawny."

Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) observed by Braden J Judson in Big Bar Lake, Thompson-Nicola, British Columbia, Canada.
Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) observed by Andrew Simon in Bulkley-Nechako, British Columbia, Canada.

Subspecies

Figure 4 from Sutton (1992). Distribution of Neotamias amoenus in western North America (Hall, 1981): 1. N. a. affinis; 2. N. a. albiventris; 3. N. a. amoenus; 4. N. a. canicaudus; 5. N. a. caurinus; 6. N. a. celeris; 7. Crater Chipmunk (Neotamias cratericus) (formerly N. a. cratericus); 8. N. a. felix; 9. N. a. ludibundus; 10. N. a. luteiventris; 11. N. a. monoensis; 12. N. a. ochraceus; 13. N. a. septentrionalis; 14. N. a. vallicola.

Museum type specimens

  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887.
  • Holotype: USNM 275175. Neotamias amoenus albiventris. Adult female. Wickiup Spring, 23 mi (37 km) west of Anatone, on the Asotin-Garfield County boundary, Washington. Collected 23 July 1943.
  • Holotype: USNM 275175. Neotamias amoenus albiventris. Adult female. Wickiup Spring, 23 mi (37 km) west of Anatone, on the Asotin-Garfield County boundary, Washington. Collected 23 July 1943.
  • Holotype: USNM 275175. Neotamias amoenus albiventris. Adult female. Wickiup Spring, 23 mi (37 km) west of Anatone, on the Asotin-Garfield County boundary, Washington. Collected 23 July 1943.
  • Holotype: USNM 27007. Neotamias amoenus canicaudus. Adult female. Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. Collected 11 April 1891.
  • Holotype: USNM 27007. Neotamias amoenus canicaudus. Adult female. Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. Collected 11 April 1891.
  • Holotype: USNM 27007. Neotamias amoenus canicaudus. Adult female. Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. Collected 11 April 1891.
  • Holotype: USNM 90636. Neotamias amoenus caurinus. Adult male. Timberline near head of Soleduck River, Olympic Mountains, Clallam County, Washington. Collected 27 August 1897.
  • Holotype: USNM 174225. Neotamias amoenus ludibundus. Adult female. Yellowhead Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Footnote states “This is the Cowdung Lake of many maps. It lies about six miles (9.7 km) west of the Alberta- British Columbian line, in Yellowhead Pass.” Collected 29 August 1911.
  • Holotype: USNM 11991. Neotamias amoenus luteiventris. Adult male. Chief Mountain (Waterton) Lake, Alberta, Canada. Collected 24 August 1874.
  • Holotype: USNM 161049. Neotamias amoenus ochraceus. Adult male. Studhorse Canyon, Siskiyou Mountains, Siskiyou County, California. Collected 27 September 1909.
  • Holotype: USNM 168027. Neotamias amoenus vallicola. Adult female. Bass Creek, near Stevensville, Ravalli County, Montana. Collected 23 March 1910.

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) 188–202 73–85 29–31 10–12 36–50
Oregon (Cascade Range) Verts & Carraway (1998) females: 171–221 (n=10); males: 176–210 (n=9) females: 60–102 (n=10); males: 64–100 (n=9) females: 30–34 (n=10); males: 30–33 (n=9) males: 47.7–48.1 (n=2)
Oregon (east of Cascade Range except Wallowa Mtns.) Verts & Carraway (1998) females: 188–229 (n=30); males: 170–223 (n=30) females: 65–113 (n=30); males: 54–98 (n=30) females: 20–33 (n=30); males: 24–33 (n=30) females: 39.6–87.4 (n=23); males: 36.0–57.0 (n=30)
Oregon (Jackson and Josephine Counties) Verts & Carraway (1998) males: 204–244 (n=6); females: 196–215 (n=5) males: 91–105 (n=6); females: 86–98 (n=5) males: 32–35 (n=6); females: 30–34 (n=5) males: 38 (n=6)
Oregon (Wallowa Mtns.) Verts & Carraway (1998) females: 195–230 (n=30); males: 166–227 (n=33) females: 80–106 (n=30); males: 70–105 (n=33) females: 28–34 (n=30); males: 26–40 (n=33) females: 45.7–59.5 (n=6); males: 38.0–47.5 (n=4)


Skull

  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887. Dorsal view of the skull.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887. Ventral view of the skull.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887. Lateral view of the skull.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887. Dorsal view of the mandible.
  • Holotype: USNM 186460. Neotamias amoenus amoenus. Adult female. Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon. Collected 16 May 1887. Lateral view of the left mandible.

Similar species

Characteristics of the baculum provide powerful diagnostic criteria among chipmunks.

Comparison with Neotamias alpinus and N. minimus

From Sutton (1992) (note: a taxonomic update has been applied to this comparison): "Average length of head and body of N. amoenus is about 15% more than that of the two smallest western chipmunks, N. alpinus and N. minimus. Average length of skull is about 8% more than that of the other two, and the average length of tail is about 14% greater than that of N. alpinus and equal to that of N. minimus (Hall, 1981). N. amoenus is more reddish than N. minimus; length of tail is about 74% of length of head and body compared with 88% for N. minimus; ratio of length of baculum tip to length of shaft is 30-35% in N. amoenus and 18-28% for N. minimus (White, 1953). The baubella (female genital bones) of the two species are so similar that a clear distinction cannot be drawn (Sutton, 1982). Certain subspecies of these two species so closely resemble each other that no specific diagnosis has been framed that will distinguish them in all parts of their geographic range."

Comparison with Neotamias panamintinus and N. speciosus

From Sutton (1992) (note: a taxonomic update has been applied to this comparison): "The only other species with which N. amoenus is likely to be confused is N. speciosus. N. amoenus is smaller, has shorter and broader-appearing ears, less sharply contrasting pale and dark stripes, with the inner pair of pale dorsal stripes broader and the outer pair usually narrower and less conspicuous. The dark facial stripes are less blackish, light facial stripes more washed with ochraceous, the skull less massive, rostrum more pointed, and the incisive foramina are smaller. These characters are quantitative and not specifically distinctive (Hall, 1981). The genital bones of both sexes, however, provide a clear and unique differentiation, with long, slender bones in both sexes of N. amoenus and short, thick bones in both sexes of N. speciosus. In a similar way, characteristics of the genital bone distinguish N. amoenus from N. panamintinus with which it is sympatric in some areas of the Sierra Nevada of California (Sutton, 1982; White, 1953)."

References

Hall ER. 1981. The mammals of North America. Second ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.

Sutton DA. 1982. The female genital bone of chipmunk genus Eutamias. The Southwestern Naturalist 27:393-402.

Sutton DA. 1992. Tamias amoenus. Mammalian species (390):1-8. https://doi.org/10.2307/3504206

White JA. 1953. The baculum in the chipmunks of western North America. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History 5:611-631.

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