The gray-collared chipmunk (''Neotamias cinereicollis'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Sciuridae Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Description

The gray-collared chipmunk grows to a total length of about including a tail of around . The forehead is greyish-brown, and the side of the head bears three dark stripes, the central one of which passes through the eye. These are separated by bands of white. The cheeks, neck, shoulders, upper back, and rump are grey. The rest of the upper surface of the body is yellowish-brown with five black or dark brown stripes on the back and sides, though the outer pair of stripes may be difficult to distinguish. The underparts are pale yellowish-brown. The tail is black above and creamy-white below, both surfaces being tinged with buff. The feet are pinkish-buff. The gray face and collar distinguish this species from others in the genus ''

Neotamias ''Neotamias'' is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It contains 23 species, which mostly occur in western North America. Along with '' Eutamias'', this genus is often considered a subgenus of ''Tamias ''Ta ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

The gray-collared chipmunk inhabits mountain coniferous forests in central and eastern Arizona and in central and western New Mexico. Its range extends from the Bill Williams Mountains, San Francisco Mountains and White Mountains to the

Datil Mountains The Datil Mountains are a small range on the northern edge of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, just northwest of the Plains of San Agustin in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The range lies in Socorro County, New Mexico, Socorro and Catron Count ...

Magdalena Mountains The Magdalena Mountains are a regionally high, mountain range in Socorro County, New Mexico, Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is South Baldy (New Mexico), South Baldy, at ...

and San Mateo Mountains. Its altitudinal range is but it is primarily found between . The gray-collared chipmunk is found in

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

and

spruce-fir forests A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' is the sole genus ...

, often up to the timberline. It is commonest where pine and

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

intermix, and is also found in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

forests.

Behavior

The gray-collared chipmunk climbs well and is both arboreal and terrestrial. It is found in clearings and at forest edges but also in dense woodland. It is rather shy and when alarmed retreats into cover, but when undisturbed often sits on a stump or fallen tree, gently waving its tail from side to side and uttering a "chuck-chuck-chuck" call. The alarm call is a rapidly repeated, high-pitched "chipper". It feeds mainly on acorns, fir cones, berries, and the seeds of plants, but it also consumes tubers and roots, the fruiting bodies of fungi, green plant material, and occasionally insects. Most food is cached in holes and crevices for later use. Breeding takes place in late spring and early summer. The nest is made in a concealed location under a log or rock, among tree roots, or in a hole in a tree. It is ball-shaped and lined with the stems of grasses and weeds. A litter of about five young is born after a gestation period of about thirty days. The young are weaned at forty days or later. The gray-collared chipmunk sometimes hibernates in winter but at other times is active, even in snowy conditions. In bad weather it may remain in its nest making use of stored foodstuffs.

Status

The gray-collared chipmunk is listed by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

". This is because within its range it is common, it faces no major threats and its population size appears to be steady. In a suitable habitat in Arizona it was estimated to be present at the rate of five individuals per hectare in April, increasing to twelve per hectare in August.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21730942, from2=Q1767483 Endemic rodents of the United States Neotamias Mammals described in 1890 Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen Taxonomy articles created by Polbot