193. Buller’s Chipmunk Tamias bulleri French: Tamia de Buller / German: Buller-Backenhornchen / Spanish: Ardilla listada de Buller Taxonomy. Tamias asiaticus bulleri J. A. Allen, 1889, “Sierra de Valparaiso, Zacate- cas,” Mexico. This species is monotypic. Distribution. Sierra Madre Occidental, in the border region between the states of Durango, Zacatecas, and Jalisco (Mexico). Descriptive notes. Head-body 130-4— 134 mm, tail 84-6-104-8 mm; weight 66-1-74-9 g. Buller’s Chipmunk has five black and four pale stripes on dorsum. Pale stripes can vary from gray to grayish white. The two outer dark stripes are lighter, browner, and shorter than inner dark stripes. Ears have rusty tinge inside and sides of body are brownish yellow. Chromosome number of Buller’s Chipmunk is 2n = 38. Karyotype is type A for Tamias and consists of four pairs of metacentric autosomes, six pairs of submetacentric autosomes, eight pairs of acrocentric autosomes, a submetacentric X chromosome, and an acrocentric Y chromosome. Habitat. Heavily wooded forests, with a significant component of rocks or downed woody debris, in the Sierra Madre slopes and canyons, between elevations of ¢.2100-2400 m. At these elevations vegetation is composed of pines (Pinus, Pinaceae) with other species of conifers, oaks (Quercus, Fagaceae) and the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides, Salacaceae); scrub oak vegetation, including manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens, Salacaceae), mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus, Rosaceae) and Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae) dominate lower elevations of Buller’s Chipmunk habitat. Food and Feeding. Buller’s Chipmunk has been reported to consume oak flowers, seeds ofjuniper (Juniperus, Cupressaceae), and shoots of pine stems. Breeding. A female with three embryos was captured 26 June and another with two embryos on 18 July. Lactating females were reported between 27 June-20 July, and a subadult on 13 May. There is controversy in the literature about the existence of sexual dimorphism in Buller’s Chipmunk. Activity patterns. Buller’s Chipmunk builds nests in tree cavities or in the ground. General vocalizations are similar to other chipmunks, butit is reported to also be able to produce a sound unique to the genus. Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species. Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Current population trend is decreasing. Because Buller’s Chipmunk is dependent on high elevation pine forests it is vulnerable to habitat loss and its habitat has been reduced and fragmented by timber extraction. In addition, future climate change may reduce these high altitude habitats and lack of information on Buller’s Chipmunk could negatively impact conservation efforts. Bibliography. Alvarez-Castafieda, Castro-Arellano, Lacher & Vazquez (2008k), Bartig et al. (1993), Escalante, Espinosa & Morrone (2003), Escalante, Rodriguez & Morrone (2005), Thorington et al. (2012).

Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Sciuridae, pp. 648-837 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 794, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6840226