Species: Neotamias townsendii

Townsend's Chipmunk
Species
Mammals
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Terrestrial vertebrates: mammals
Neotamias townsendii

Reddish brown pelage, with two grayish, brownish, or whitish dark-bordered stripes on each side of the back, a dark stripe down the middle of the back, and a whitish stripe above and below each eye; long bushy tail, the underside of which is reddish brown or tawny; back side of ear blackish in front, gray in rear; brown stripe below ear; total length to around 30 cm.

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Sciuridae

Genus

Neotamias

Natureserve Explorer
Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105861
Classification
Other Global Common Names
tamia de Townsend
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae - Neotamias - ).

Reddish brown pelage, with two grayish, brownish, or whitish dark-bordered stripes on each side of the back, a dark stripe down the middle of the back, and a whitish stripe above and below each eye; long bushy tail, the underside of which is reddish brown or tawny; back side of ear blackish in front, gray in rear; brown stripe below ear; total length to around 30 cm.

Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Diverse diet. Eats seeds, nuts, fruits, insects, roots, green vegetation, fungi. Forages mostly on ground but sometimes also in trees. Caches food in burrow.<br><br>Fungi are important in the diet of Townsends chipmunks. These chipmunks are among the dispersal agents for fungi that play important roles in forest nutrient cycles.
Reproduction Comments
Mating occurs in spring, young are born in May-June, and young appear above ground by July (Washington Cascade Mountains). Gestation lasts about 4 weeks. Average litter size is 3.8. Young appear above ground in July(Kenagy and Barnes 1988). Individual females produce one litter each year. Breeding first occurs at an age of 1 or 2 years. Some live as long as 7 years.
Ecology Comments
In one area, home ranged averaged 0.8 ha and density was 2.6 adults/ha (see Sutton 1993). In Oregon, density was 0.6-1.1/ha in virgin forest (see Sutton 1993).<br><br>Weasels, mink, and bobcats are important predators. <br><br>Feeding experiments in British Columbia indicated that the population was limited by food availability (see Sutton 1993). <br><br>See Sutton (1993) for information on ecological interactions between T. TOWNSENDII and T. AMOENUS.
Length
32
Weight
109
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-05
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-05
Other Status

LC - Least concern

Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&US.OR=S4&US.WA=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Range extends along the Pacific coast of North America, from extreme southwestern British Columbia south to southern Oregon (Rogue River), southward in the western Cascades to the headwaters of the Rogue River (Sutton 1993).
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105861