Chipmunk
| Chipmunk | ||||||||||||
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Asian chipmunk or Burunduk ( Tamias sibiricus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tamias | ||||||||||||
| Illiger , 1811 |
The chipmunks , chipmunks or chipmunks ( Tamias ) are a genus of the croissant (Sciuridae) within the rodents . It contains 25 species , most of which are native to North America . Only one species lives in Eurasia , the Asian chipmunk, usually called Burunduk ( Tamias sibiricus ).
features
Depending on the species, they weigh 30 to 120 g, with a head body length of 5 to 15 cm and a tail length of 7 to 12 cm. Characteristic for all species is the stripes: on a gray-brown to red-brown background, five black vertical stripes run across the back, interrupted by white or gray stripes in between. Since this is the same for all chipmunks, the stripes are not a suitable feature for identifying species.
distribution and habitat
The genus is distributed across North America from the Arctic Circle to central Mexico. The striped chipmunk lives in the eastern half of North America, while the 23 species of the subgenus Neotamias share the western half. Burunduk inhabits Eurasia from Northern Europe to Korea and Northern China as well as the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . Burunduks that have escaped from breeding have also become at home in parts of Central Europe.
The chipmunks live mainly in forests. The striped chipmunk lives in the deciduous forests of New England, the Burunduk an animal of the taiga , and the little chipmunk lives in the subarctic coniferous forests of Canada. Some species also specialize in treeless habitats, which must contain a lot of shrubbery.
Way of life
Chipmunks build extensive tunnel systems that can be more than 3.50 m long and have hidden entrances. The sleeping areas are kept extremely clean while shells and excrement are stored in the waste tunnels.
Chipmunks can climb but stay on the ground most of the time. They are diurnal . The northern species collect food supplies for the winter, which they store in their burrows. They continue to hibernate , which they interrupt more often in mild weather.
Although they are often depicted collecting nuts, they also eat other foods such as seeds, fruits, and insects.
As loners, chipmunks defend the area around their den against invading conspecifics. Males and females only meet briefly for mating. Four to five young are born after a gestation period of thirty days. They become sexually mature in their first year of life. While chipmunks usually don't live to be more than three years old in the wild, they can live up to ten years in captivity.
Systematics
The first description of the striped chipmunk as the first type of chipmunk came from Carl von Linné in his Systema naturae as early as 1758 . In 1811, the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger described the chipmunk as a separate genus Tamias and thus as the third genus of squirrels next to the squirrels ( Sciurus ) and the flying squirrels ( Pteromys ) described by Georges Cuvier .
In the past the chipmunks formed their own tribe Tamiini within the subfamily ground squirrels (Xerinae) , but more recent systematics classify them together with the marmots , ground squirrels and other genera in the tribe of real ground squirrels (Marmotini). The genus Tamias is often divided into three sub-genera, two of which consist of only one species each. These sub-genera are also discussed as independent genera.
- Subgenus Tamias
- Striped Chipmunk ( Tamias striatus ), Eastern North America
- Subgenus Eutamias
- Subgenus Neotamias
- Mountain chipmunk ( Tamias alpinus ), Sierra Nevada
- Yellow spruce chipmunk ( Tamias amoenus ), British Columbia , northwest USA
- Buller chipmunk ( Tamias bulleri ), Durango , Zacatecas , Jalisco
- Gray footed chipmunk ( Tamias canipes ), New Mexico
- Gray-necked chipmunk ( Tamias cinereicollis ), Arizona , New Mexico
- Rock chipmunk ( Tamias dorsalis ), central western USA, northwest. Mexico
- Durango chipmunk ( Tamias durangae ), Durango, Chihuahua , Coahuila
- Merriam chipmunk ( Tamias merriami ), southern California
- Little chipmunk ( Tamias minimus ), western and central Canada, western USA
- California chipmunk ( Tamias obscurus ), southern California, Baja California
- Yellow-cheeked chipmunk ( Tamias ochrogenys ), Northern California coastal region
- Palmer chipmunk ( Tamias palmeri ), southern Nevada
- Panamint chipmunk ( Tamias panamintinus ), southeast. California, western Nevada
- Long-eared chipmunk ( Tamias quadrimaculatus ), Sierra Nevada
- Colorado chipmunk ( Tamias quadrivittatus ), central western USA
- Red-tailed chipmunk ( Tamias ruficaudus ), British Columbia, Washington, Montana
- Hopi chipmunk ( Tamias rufus ), Utah , Colorado, Arizona
- Allen chipmunk ( Tamias senex ), Oregon, northern California
- Siskiyou chipmunk ( Tamias siskiyou ), southwestern Oregon
- Sonoma chipmunk ( Tamias sonomae ), northwestern California
- Lodgepole chipmunk ( Tamias speciosus ), Sierra Nevada
- Townsend chipmunk ( Tamias townsendii ), Washington , Oregon
- Uinta chipmunk ( Tamias umbrinus ), central western USA
Because of the different dentition (it is the only species with not four, but two front jaw teeth in the upper jaw), the striped chipmunk is sometimes separated from the other species in its own genus; this then becomes the genus Tamias , while the other species are assigned to a genus Eutamias . When it comes to delimiting the numerous West American species, there are always differences of opinion. Siskiyou, Allen, Sonoma and yellow-cheeked chipmunk are occasionally classified as a subspecies of the Townsend chipmunk, and the Durango chipmunk as a subspecies of the gray-footed chipmunk.
The genus Nototamias is known from the Oligocene and Miocene and is considered to be the forerunner of the chipmunk. The genus Tamias has been documented since the beginning of the Miocene.
Humans and chipmunks
In general, chipmunks are common animals. Only one species is listed as endangered by the IUCN ( International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ): the Palmer chipmunk, which is found in only one mountain range in Nevada. Two subspecies of otherwise not endangered species are in the “ critically endangered” status: Tamias minimus atristriatus from New Mexico, and Tamias umbrinus nevadensis from Nevada; the latter has not been seen alive since the 1960s.
The Burunduk in particular is occasionally kept in fur farms. There is also keeping in zoos .
In North America, many chipmunks are tame and eat nuts or other foods out of hand.
Whether species-appropriate keeping in a cage in the home is even possible is controversial. The main difficulty is the animals' great urge to move. You need a lot of exercise. In fact, both North American and Eurasian species make it into the pet trade to a not inconsiderable extent as pets. The animals show behavior that is interesting for people and often perceived as "cute". Taming is possible, but time consuming and often of limited success. The animals are therefore not suitable for children.
Others
In breeder's handbooks and travel guides one comes across the irritating habit that all croissants with stripes on their fur are called "chipmunks". This applies, for example, to ground squirrels and atlas squirrels . The striped palm squirrels and the tree chipmunks of the tropics are actually very similar to the real chipmunks . The redshank squirrels are sometimes referred to as "African chipmunks" and there is also a genus of black chipmunks .
The American name Chipmunk comes from the loud chip sound that they make in addition to a trill.
In some rare cases, chipmunks can be carriers of diseases such as rabies , which can be transmitted through bites.
The cartoon adaptation of the chipmunks , the couple Ahörnchen und Amt or Chip and Chap ( English Chip 'n Dale ) from some Walt Disney films, as well as the Chipmunks of the music group and series Alvin and the Chipmunks have become famous .
supporting documents
- ^ Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger : Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium. 1811 ( digitized , description on p. 83).
- ↑ Bruce D. Patterson, Ryan W. Norris: Towards a uniform nomenclature for ground squirrels: the status of the Holarctic chipmunks. Mammalia 80 (3), May 2016; Pp. 241-251 doi: 10.1515 / mammalia-2015-0004
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Dallas A. Sutton : Tamias amoenus. In: Mammalian Species . No. 390, 1992, pp. 1–8, online (PDF; 924.24 KB) , (contains an identification key for all Tamias species).
- Michael D. Carleton, Guy G. Musser : Order Rodentia. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Volume 2. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 745-1600.
