tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post6414905388147045982..comments2023-12-24T07:02:43.274+08:00Comments on Catalogue of Organisms: Groundhogs, Woodchucks and Other Big SquirrelsChristopher Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11075565866351612441noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post-52275261919831752032017-12-18T19:09:59.620+11:002017-12-18T19:09:59.620+11:00I believe it is the acid soils of forests that mak...I believe it is the acid soils of forests that make them poor preservation habitats, yes (and maybe also the reduced likelihood of rapid burial). But on the other hand, other rodents such as chipmunks are apparently well known in the North American fossil record, and many biases against tree squirrel preservation might be expected to apply to them as well.Christopher Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075565866351612441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post-78003867453241761462017-12-17T18:32:12.815+11:002017-12-17T18:32:12.815+11:00"Tamias" in Greek means "treasurer&..."Tamias" in Greek means "treasurer"-- a great root for names of critters that famously bury nuts as a food store! (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, colloquially "the red squirrel" (though I think the same common name gets used for a different species in the East) is the only Sciurid I see (and hear) regularly in Edmonton AB.)<br /> But: re the claim that tree squirrels were rare in most of Neogene North America-- could this be largely a matter of preservational bias? Tree squirrels live in trees, which are often in forests, and long ago I was taught that forests (maybe for reasons of soil chemistry) make for poor fossil preservation.Allen Hazenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05223023647802175202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post-72938078243427921602011-10-21T08:24:34.586+08:002011-10-21T08:24:34.586+08:00For the most part, the ex-Spermophilus genera have...For the most part, the ex-<i>Spermophilus</i> genera have been split simply to allow the usage of only monophyletic genera whilst still maintaining <i>Marmota</i>, <i>Ammospermophilus</i> and <i>Cynomys</i> as separate genera. At least some of the current genera had been recognised previously as subgenera of <i>Spermophilus</i>.<br /><br />In the case of <i>Tamias</i>, the alternative to placing all chipmunks in a single genus that has been used is to recognise <i>Tamias</i> for <i>T. striatus</i> of eastern North America, <i>Eutamias</i> for the Siberian chipmunk, and <i>Neotamias</i> for the remaining chipmunks of western North America. As the chipmunks seem to form a monophyletic group whether recognised as one genus or three, this one is largely a question of how finely you want to tune your generometer.<br /><br /><i>Tamiasciurus</i> contains the North American pine squirrels, and has not been connected to the Marmotini (a relationship has been suggested between <i>Tamiasciurus</i> and <i>Sciurotamias</i>, but has not been supported in recent studies).Christopher Taylorhttp://coo.fieldofscience.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post-16136693719318055642011-10-21T06:29:07.251+08:002011-10-21T06:29:07.251+08:00Hi Chris
So why is the thirteen-lined ground squi...Hi Chris<br /><br />So why is the thirteen-lined ground squirrel in the genus <i>Ictidomys</i>? Isn't there also <i>Tamiasciurus</i> for the Least Chipmunk? Without having the read all the references, I am just curious as to whether they are now generally lumped into their respective main genera or not.<br /><br />PaulPaul Seldenhttp://www.paulselden.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460788270738656369.post-75899555065160772332011-10-16T00:04:51.213+08:002011-10-16T00:04:51.213+08:00Hey Chris,
Thanks for this. I've been doing m...Hey Chris,<br /><br />Thanks for this. I've been doing my host genera updates piecemeal (and grumbling about taxonomists a lot). Your post puts the changes in perspective and leaves me no excuse for not getting Helgen et al. and doing a proper job of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com