Neotamias A. H. Howell, 1929

Patterson, B. D. & Norris, R. W., 2016, Towards a uniform nomenclature for ground squirrels: the status of the Holarctic chipmunks, Mammalia 80 (3), pp. 241-251 : 247-248

Neotamias A. H. Howell, 1929

Diagnosis Dorsal stripes all subequal in width; lateral pair of dark stripes shorter than medial trio; ears narrower, more pointed at the tips; tail 40–50% total length; antorbital foramen slitlike (narrowly oval); posterior border of the zygomatic notch extends only to level of P4; postorbital process gracile at base; lambdoidal crest barely discernable; palate short, extending to or just behind the plane of the last molars; auditory bullae relatively large; upper incisors with numerous distinct longitudinal striations; two upper premolars; the anterior root of P4 projects lingual to the masseteric knob; upper molar series approximately parallel; head of the malleus not elongated, the planes formed by the lamina and manubrium ca. 90°; hypohyal and ceratohyal elements of hyoid apparatus completely fused in adults; conjoining tendon between anterior and posterior sets of digastric muscles ribbonlike; baculum highly variable but abruptly angled at tip with a prominent dorsal ridge (“keel”). Karyotype 2N=38, “A” and “B” karyotypes, differing from each other by a single pericentric inversion of the smallest autosome ( Nadler et al. 1977).

Type species Tamias asiaticus merriami J. A. Allen, 1889 .

Included species Neotamias alpinus ( Merriam, 1893) – Alpine chipmunk; Neotamias amoenus (J. A. Allen, 1890) – Yellow-pine chipmunk; Neotamias bulleri (J. A. Allen, 1889) – Buller’s chipmunk; Neotamias canipes ( Bailey, 1902) – Gray-footed chipmunk; Neotamias cinereicollis (J. A. Allen, 1890) – Gray-collared chipmunk; Neotamias dorsalis ( Baird, 1855) – Cliff chipmunk; Neotamias durangae (J. A. Allen, 1903) – Durango chipmunk; Neotamias merriami (J. A. Allen, 1889) – Merriam’s chipmunk; Neotamias minimus ( Bachman, 1839) – Least chipmunk; Neotamias obscurus (J. A. Allen, 1890) – California chipmunk; Neotamias ochrogenys ( Merriam, 1897) – Yellow-cheeked chipmunk;