John Macfarlane, age 11, of Midvale, Utah, for his question:
Is the chipmunk classified in a family of its own?
Every newly discovered animal is verified and identified by expert zoologists and the stranger is welcomed promptly into his proper scien¬tific classification. The chipmunk is no stranger. Zoologists had him and all his cousins properly classified long ago.
Just about everybody in North America has a fond affection for the bright eyed, frisky little chipmunk. Actually, about 20 different types, or species, of chipmunk enjoy life in our woodsy outdoors. Some species are larger and some are smaller, some have more stripes or brighter stripes than others. The different species tend to favor their own terri¬tories, and there are westerners and easterners among the chipmunks.
Actually, these frisky fellows are rather small sized squirrels, and they are classified in the squirrel animal family, Sciuridae. Hence they do not 'have a whole animal family of their own. Sciuridae includes all the tree squirrels, the ground squirrels, the gophers, the prairie dogs and the woodchucks as well as all the chipper little chipmunks. This is a large family, but the chipmunks are by no means lost in it.
Zoologists subdivide an animal family into a number of smaller genera, which is the plural of the word "genus." The chipmunks have not only one genus all to themselves, but two genera. Those that favor the eastern territories are classified in the genus Tamias. The most popular member of this group is a seven inch bundle of sassy energy who has an extra four inches of very flickable furry tail. The basic color of his coat is gray¬ish, merging to pale fawn tones on his tummy. His back is marked with five black stripes alternated with grayish or brownish stripes. The stripes run from his shoulders to his rump. This well known member of the Tamias genus is the Eastern Chipmunk, alias the Hacker.
The genus of westerners is Eutamias and it has at least a dozen sprightly members. One of our favorites is a small fellow known to the world of science as Eutamias minimus. Ordinary folk call him the Western Chipmunk, alias the Least Chipmunk. Altogether, he measures only eight inches, including his sassy tail. He is the smallest of the chipmunk clan and although he ranges west from Alaska to Mexico, he tends to favor the prairie lands of Wyoming and Montana, and the Dakotas, where he makes him¬self comfortably at home even in the arid Badlands. His colors are often quite pale, but his back is plainly marked with five blackish and four whitish stripes.
From time to time, zoologists review their classifications and amend them. At one time, all our chipmunks were classified in the same genus. Later investigations revealed enough differences between them to Justify two separate genera. The easterners are noticeably larger and heavier. Their stripes are less clearly defined and several species have fever stripes than their smaller western cousins.