Neotamias dorsalis
| Cliff Chipmunk
(Neotamias dorsalis) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Sciuromorpha |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subfamily: | Xerinae |
| Tribe: | Tamiini |
| Genus: | Neotamias |
| Binomial details | |
| Neotamias dorsalis (S. F. Baird, 1855) | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
The Cliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis) is a gray chipmunk found in a variety of habitats where there are large rocks or cliffs.
Description
From Hart (1992): "Coloration of upper parts is tones of smoke or neutral gray, ears are pale smoke or grayish white. Darker stripes are fuscous black with sayal brown. Lighter dorsal stripes are grayish or creamy white. Sides are sayal brown, the shoulders and rump are gray, and the thighs are sayal brown or cinnamon. The long, bushy tail is black above and tawny-cinnamon below with creamy-white underparts (Howell, 1929)."
Subspecies
Museum type specimens
-
Syntype: USNM 120. Neotamias dorsalis dorsalis. Grant County, New Mexico. Collected 1851. -
Syntype: USNM 120. Neotamias dorsalis dorsalis. Grant County, New Mexico. Collected 1851. -
Syntype: USNM 120. Neotamias dorsalis dorsalis. Grant County, New Mexico. Collected 1851. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. -
Holotype: USNM 398643. Neotamias dorsalis sonoriensis. Adult male. Twenty- four kilometers NE Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. Collected 13 November 1973. -
Holotype: USNM 398643. Neotamias dorsalis sonoriensis. Adult male. Twenty- four kilometers NE Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. Collected 13 November 1973. -
Holotype: USNM 398643. Neotamias dorsalis sonoriensis. Adult male. Twenty- four kilometers NE Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. Collected 13 November 1973. -
Holotype: USNM 186457. Neotamias dorsalis utahensis. Adult male. Ogden, foothills of Wasatch Mountains, Weber County, Utah. Collected 9 October 1888. -
Holotype: USNM 186457. Neotamias dorsalis utahensis. Adult male. Ogden, foothills of Wasatch Mountains, Weber County, Utah. Collected 9 October 1888.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona (Arizona Strip, Mohave Co.) | Hoffmeister (1986) | 200–240 (n=14) | 91–105 (n=14) | 31–34 (n=14) | ||
| Arizona (Graham Mtns.) | Hoffmeister (1986) | 209–256 (n=27) | 85–128 (n=27) | 31–36 (n=27) | ||
| Arizona (Mogollon Rim, Coconino Co.) | Hoffmeister (1986) | 213–240 (n=10) | 82–102 (n=10) | 32–36 (n=10) | ||
| Arizona (south rim Grand Canyon) | Hoffmeister (1986) | 202–240 (n=20) | 92–108 (n=20) | 31–35 (n=20) | ||
| Colorado | Armstrong et al. (2010) | 220–225 | 80–100 | 32–35 | 23–26 | 50–70 |
| Nevada (subspecies grinnelli) | Hall (1946) | males: 204–226 (n=5); females: 212–235 (n=5) | males: 82–100 (n=5); females: 89–105 (n=5) | males: 32–35 (n=5); females: 31–34 (n=5) | males: 19–21 (n=5); females: 19–22 (n=5) | males: 54.5–63.8 (July, n=5); females: 58.8–66.7 (July, n=5) |
| Nevada (subspecies utahensis) | Hall (1946) | females: 192–225 (n=6) | females: 84–102 (n=6) | females: 29–32 (n=6) | females: 17–19 (n=6) | females: 50.0–57.0 (n=6) |
Skull
Greatest length of skull is 35–40 mm (Hart, 1992; Sutton, 1992).
-
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. Dorsal view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. Ventral view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. Lateral view of the skull. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. Dorsal view of the mandible. -
Holotype: USNM 263378. Neotamias dorsalis carminis. Young male. Carmen Mountains, Coahuila, Mexico. Collected 20 September 1937. Lateral view of the left mandible.
Similar species
From Hart (1992): "Because of its dark stripes and lack of white ones, dorsalis is one of the most handsome and strikingly marked members of the genus (Howell, 1929). N. obscurus and merriami, both allopatric in California and Baja California, respectively, have lateral striping similar to dorsalis. Western chipmunks with ranges that often are broadly sympatric with dorsalis include canipes, cinereicollis, minimus, quadrivittatus, umbrinus; all have well-defined white stripes (Hall, 1981; Howell, 1929). The skull is similar to cinereicollis, except that dorsalis has a longer, lower braincase which also is narrower in the front with broader incisors (Mearns, 1907). Compared with merriami, the braincase of dorsalis is shorter and deeper and the rostrum is straighter and broader (Howell, 1929). The braincase of dorsalis is slightly less flattened than panamintinus and the incisive foramina diverge posteriorly rather than parallel (Hall, 1981). The baculum of dorsalis is diagnostic of the species. It has a thin shaft with a low keel that is 20% of the length of the tip. The tip is 29-40% of the length of the shaft. The angle formed by the tip and the shaft is 140°. The distal 50% of the shaft is slightly compressed laterally. The shaft is 2.64-3.69 mm in length (White, 1953)."
References
Armstrong DM, Fitzgerald JP, Meaney CA. 2010. Mammals of Colorado, Second Edition. Denver (CO, USA): University Press of Colorado.
Gardner AL, Ramírez-Pulido J. 2020. Type localities of Mexican land mammals, with comments on taxonomy and nomenclature. Texas Tech University. Natural Science Research Laboratory.
Hall ER. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2 vols. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Hart EB. 1992. Tamias dorsalis. Mammalian Species (399):1-6. https://doi.org/10.2307/3504238
Hoffmeister DF. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. Tucson (AZ, USA): University of Arizona Press.
Howell AH. 1929. Revision of the American chipmunks. North American Fauna, 52:1-157.
Mearns EA. 1907. Mammals of the Mexican boundary of the United States. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 56:1-530.
Sutton DA. 1992. Tamias amoenus. Mammalian Species (390):1-8.
White JA. 1953. The baculum in the chipmunks of western North America. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, 5:611-631.