| Tamias | |
|---|---|
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| Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subtribe: | Tamiina |
| Genus: | Tamias Illiger, 1811 |
| Type species | |
| Sciurus striatus | |
| Species | |
Tamias is agenus ofchipmunks in the tribeMarmotini of thesquirrel family. The genus includes a single living species, theeastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus).[1] The genus nameTamias (Greek:ταμίας) means "treasurer", "steward", or "housekeeper",[2] which is a reference to the animals' role in plant dispersal through their habit of collecting and storing food for winter use.[3]
The genusTamias was formerly divided into three subgenera that, in sum, included all chipmunk species:Tamias, theeastern chipmunk and other fossil species;Eutamias, of which theSiberian chipmunk (E. sibiricus) is the only living member; andNeotamias, which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western, species. These classifications are subjective, and most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the chipmunks in a single genus. However, studies ofmitochondrial DNA show that the divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the genetic dissimilarity betweenMarmota andSpermophilus,[4][5][6][7] so they are now often considered as separate genera.
In addition to the eastern chipmunk, some fossil species fromEurasia have been assigned to this genus:
One American fossil species,†Tamias aristus from the late Pleistocene, has been identified.[13]
