Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Hopi Chipmunk

Neotamias rufus

(Hoffmeister and Ellis, 1979)

Hopi Chipmunk

G5Secure Found in 6 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106127
Element CodeAMAFB02240
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilySciuridae
GenusNeotamias
Synonyms
Tamias rufusHoffmeister and Ellis, 1979
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Taxonomic Comments
See Patterson and Norris (2016) for a revised classification of Marmotini (Sciuridae: Xerinae), based on Thorington et al. (2012), Ge et al. (2014), and Patterson and Norris (2016); the three chipmunk lineages should be recognized as three distinct genera, namely, Tamias Illiger, 1811, Eutamias Trouessart, 1880, and Neotamias A. H. Howell, 1929. Thorington and Hoffmann (in Wilson and Reeder 2005) noted that chipmunks could be legitimately allocated to one (Tamias), two (Neotamias, Tamias), or three (Tamias, Neotamias, Eutamias) genera; they chose to adopt the single-genus (Tamias) arrangement.

Formerly included in T. quadrivittatus (as subspecies hopiensis, a nomen dubium); recognized as a distinct species by Patterson (1984), Jones et al. (1992), and Hoffmann et al. (in Wilson and Reeder 1993).
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-11-06
Change Date1996-11-06
Range Extent Comments
Western Colorado, eastern Utah, and northeastern Arizona. Elevations of about 1290-2700 m.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Various rocky habitats: woodlands of pinyon-juniper and associated shrubs, rubble slopes, slickrock; may use trees and shrubs for cover; burrows beneath boulders or shrubs (Armstrong 1982). May sometimes use sandy habitats (blackbrush-Indian ricegrass) adjacent to pinyon-juniper or rocky areas. Easily climbs on cliffs and in woody vegetation. Nest sites are associated with piles of broken rock or crevices in solid rock.

Ecology

Home range in southeastern Utah was estimated at 0.4-1.3 ha (Wadsworth 1972).

Reproduction

Southeastern Utah: mates February-March; gestation lasts 30-33 days; young are born during first half of April, above ground in May; average litter size is 5.2 (Wadsworth 1969). Lactating females were captured in late May and early June in southeastern Utah (Armstrong 1982) and in mid-June in southwestern Colorado. Weaning is completed in 6-7 weeks. Sexually mature in 10-11 months; females give birth to their first litter when about one year old (see Burt and Best 1994).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - ConiferShrubland/chaparralBare rock/talus/scree
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
ColoradoS5Yes
ArizonaS1Yes
UtahS3Yes
Navajo NationS4Yes
Roadless Areas (6)
Utah (6)
AreaForestAcres
Capital ReefDixie National Forest763
FishhookDixie National Forest12,959
Happy ValleyDixie National Forest14,458
Long Neck Mesa / Steep Creek / Oak Creek - Steep Creek / OakDixie National Forest55,489
Muddy Creek - Nelson Mt.Manti-Lasal National Forest59,034
White MountainFishlake National Forest23,939
References (25)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2024. The Mammal Diversity Database (MDD). Online. Available: www.mammaldiversity.org
  2. Armstrong, D. M. 1982. Mammals of the canyon country: a handbook of mammals of Canyonlands National Park and vicinity. Canyonlands Natural History Assoc., Moab, Utah. 263 pp.
  3. Baker, R. J., L. C. Bradley, R. D. Bradley, J. W. Dragoo, M. D. Engstrom, R. S. Hoffman, C. A. Jones, F. Reid, D. W. Rice, and C. Jones. 2003a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2003. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 229:1-23.
  4. Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
  5. Broadbooks, H. E. 1970a. Home ranges and territorial behavior of the yellow-pine chipmunk, <i>Eutamius amoenus.</i> Journal of Mammalogy 51:310-26.
  6. Broadbooks, H. E. 1970b. Populations of the yellow pine chipmunk, <i>Eutamias amoenus</i>. American Midland Naturalist 83:472-488.
  7. Brown, J. H. 1971. Mechanisms of competitive exclusion between two species of chipmunks. Ecology 52:305-311.
  8. Burt, S. L., and T. L. Best. 1994. Tamias rufus. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species No. 460:1-6.
  9. Elliot, L. 1978. Social behavior and foraging ecology of the eastern chipmunk (<i>Tamias striatus</i>) in the Adirondack Mountains. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology No. 265. 107 pp.
  10. Gashwiler, J. S. 1965. Longevity and home range of a Townsend chipmunk. Journal of Mammalogy 46:693.
  11. Jackson, H. H. 1961. Mammals of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 504 pp.
  12. Jameson, E. W., Jr. 1999. Host-ectoparasite relationships among North American chipmunks. Acta Theriologica 44:225-231.
  13. Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
  14. Oxley, D. J., M. B. Fenton and G. R. Carmody. 1974. The effects of roads on populations of small mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 51-59.
  15. Patterson, B. D. 1984. Geographic variation and taxonomy of Colorado and Hopi chipmunks (genus EUTAMIAS). J. Mamm. 65:442-456.
  16. Patterson, B. D., and R. W. Norris. 2016. Towards a uniform nomenclature for ground squirrels: the status of the Holarctic chipmunks. Mammalia 80(3):241-251.
  17. Piaggio, A. J., and G. S. Spicer. 2001. Molecular phylogeny of the chipmunks inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase II gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20:335-350.
  18. Roberts, D. R. 1962. Rodent movements in a cutover forest of the Sierra Nevada, California. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley.
  19. Sheppard, D. 1972. Home ranges of chipmunks (<i>Eutamias</i>) in Alberta. Journal of Mammalogy 53:379- 380.
  20. Storer, T. I., F. C. Evans, and F. G. Palmer. 1944. Some rodent populations in the Sierra Nevada of California. Ecological Monographs 14:166-192.
  21. Sutton, D. A. 1992. Tamias amoenus. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species No. 390:1-8.
  22. Wadsworth, C. E. 1969. Reproduction and growth of EUTAMIASQUADRIVITTATUS in southeastern Utah. J. Mamm. 50:256-261.
  23. Wadsworth, C. E. 1972. Observations of the Colorado chipmunk in southeastern Utah. Southwestern Naturalist 16:451-454.
  24. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  25. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes. 2,142 pp. [As modified by ASM the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/index.html]