Tamias rufus (Hoffmeister & Ellis, 1979)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6818940 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FF9E-ED63-FFC7-F3D2FA32F0AB |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Tamias rufus |
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Hopi Chipmunk
French: Tamia roux / German: Hopi-Backenhornchen / Spanish: Ardilla listada de los Hopi
Taxonomy. Eutamias quadrivittatus rufus Hoffmeister & Ellis, 1979 ,
“10 mi SW Page, [Coconino County,] Arizona.” USA .
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. E Utah, W Colorado, and NE Arizona (USA).
Descriptive notes. Head-body mean 120-2 mm (males) and 123-8 mm (females), tail mean 91-3 mm (males) and 95-4 mm (females); weight mean 53-3 g (males) and 57-6 g (females). The Hopi Chipmunk has pale orange to cinnamon pelage, with a chestnut mid-dorsal longitudinal dark stripe. Lateral dark stripes are discrete and offset by white to gray light stripes. Head is pale gray, with large white post-auricular patches. Flanks and hips are pale gray, feet and sides are bright pale reddish orange, ventral pelage varies from buff to pale orange, and tail is grizzled charcoal, suffused with reddish in upper side and bright redorange bordered with black on ventral surface. Females are bigger than males. Chromosome number of the Hopi Chipmunk is 2n = 38. Karyotypeis type B for Tamias and consists of five pairs of metacentric autosomes, six pairs of submetacentric autosomes, seven pairs of acrocentric autosomes, a submetacentric X chromosome, and an acrocentric Y chromosome.
Habitat. Rocky areas of pinyon-juniper (Pinus, Pinaceae; Juniperus, Cupressaceae) vegetation, but also rocky areas with other types of open vegetation.
Food and Feeding. Diet of the Hopi Chipmunk consists mostly of seeds oftrees, shrubs and forbs, but it also consumes leaves, fruits, fungi, and insects. It does not consume food whereit finds it, but instead carries items collected in cheek pouches to eatitin a safe place. It also caches food in crevices, under rocks or in a larderhoard to consume in the future.
Breeding. Breeding season occurs between February and March, but males remain in a reproductive state through April. After a gestation of 30-33 days, females give birth to a litter of ¢.5 young, inside burrow. Young emerge in May, are weaned at c.6—7 weeks old, and become sexually mature at c.10-11 months.
Activity patterns. The Hopi Chipmunk is terrestrial, diurnal, and probably does not hibernate, but enters torpor during periods of severe winter weather. When winter weather is favorable, the Hopi Chipmunk emerges to forage aboveground. Because it stores more fat than most North American chipmunks, with fat reserves making up 10-20% of body mass, it has the potential to survive long periods of torpor or even hibernation.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Home range is 1-1-3 ha. Population density is not affected by annual fluctuations in precipitation and temperature, but is inversely related with density of the Least Chipmunk (7amias minimus) in areas in which they are sympatric.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Hopi Chipmunk is locally common and the population trend is stable. Currently there are no major threats to the Hopi Chipmunk, but its distribution is naturally fragmented, which could make it vulnerable to local disturbances.
Bibliography. Burt & Best (1994), Doty et al. (2009), Hayssen (2008a), Root et al. (2001), Thorington et al. (2012).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
