Sciuridae
Tamias minimus
(least chipmunk)

Image Caption:
A least chipmunk (Tamias minimus) sits on a branch of a dead pine tree.  The least chipmunk is small in size and ranges through the United States Rock Mountains and north into Canada (Verts & Carraway, 2001, p. 1).  Although chipmunks are easily distinguished from squirrels by their striped head, biologists are sometimes forced to use skeletal clues when identifying the least chipmunk from similar species where ranges overlap (Verts & Carraway, 2001, p. 1). 

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Tamias minimus (Least Chipmunk)
Works Cited:

Verts, B. J. & Carraway, L. N.  (2001).  Tamias minimus.  The American Society of Mammalogists Mammalian Species 653.  (Link).
Image Location: United States, South Dakota, Black Hills
Image Date: 2009AUG17
Image Species: Tamias minimus silvaticus
(EXIF Information is accurate – stamped in UTC).

Web Page and Pictures By Peter Leitheiser
Updated: 2009SEP30