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Chipmunk
| Chipmunk Temporal range: Early Miocene to Recent
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|---|---|
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| Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subfamily: | Xerinae |
| Tribe: | Marmotini Illiger, 1811[1] |
A chipmunk is a small squirrel-like rodent. It is in the Sciuridae family. About twenty-three species fall under this title, with one species in North America.
The name may have originally been spelled "chitmunk" (perhaps from a Native American word meaning "red squirrel").[2] However, the earliest form comes from the Oxford English Dictionary (in 1842) as "chipmonk". Other early forms include "chipmuck" and "chipminck".
Chipmunks are hoarders, meaning they store food for winter.[3]
- ↑ Illigeri, Caroli (1811). "Genus 34. Tamias (ταμιας promus condus) Bakkenhörnchen". Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium. Berlin: C. Salfeld. p. 83.
- ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ↑ Kays, R. W.; Wilson, Don E. (2009). Mammals of North America (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-691-14092-6.
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