Coloration varying from light to dark depending on subspecies;
size small to medium; rostrum short and stout.
Baculum: Shaft thin; keel low, 1/5 of length of tip; tip 18 to 28 per
cent of length of shaft; angle formed by tip and shaft 125 deg.; distal
1/2 of shaft slightly compressed laterally; shaft short to long, 2.44 to
4.35 mm.
Differs from _E. speciosus_, _E. panamintinus_, _E. umbrinus_, _E.
palmeri_, and _E. bulleri_, in shaft thinner, base not markedly widened;
from _E. quadrivittatus_, _E. ruficaudus_, _E. cinereicollis_, and _E.
quadrimaculatus_, in shaft thinner, tip shorter; from _E. amoenus_, in
tip less than 28 per cent of length of shaft; from _E. dorsalis_, in
angle formed by tip and shaft smaller; from _E. townsendii_, in tip less
than 28 per cent of length of shaft, angle formed by tip and shaft 125 deg.
instead of 130 deg.; from _E. sonomae_, in ridges on either side of tip
less well-developed, keel higher; from _E. merriami_, in shaft shorter
(less than 4.40 mm.), base not incised, tip proportionally longer.
For comparison with _E. alpinus_ see the account of that species.
In most places where _E. minimus_ and _E. amoenus_ occur together they
can be distinguished without recourse to the baculum, but at Banff and
Canmore in western Alberta, recourse to the baculum is almost necessary.
There, as elsewhere, they can be distinguished readily by the shape of
the bacula.
_Specimens examined_: 72.
_Eutamias minimus borealis_: Alberta: Canmore, 1 (BS).
_E. m. cacodemus_: South Dakota: _Shannon Co._: Quinn's Draw,
Cheyenne River, 1 (NM); 14 mi. N and 5 mi. W Rockyford, 3,200
ft., 1.
_E. m. confinis_: Wyoming: _Big Horn Co._: 17 mi. E and 3 mi. S
Shell, 9,000 ft., 1; 9 mi. E and 9 mi. N Tensleep, 8,200 ft., 1.
_Washakie Co._: 9 mi. E and 4 mi. N Tensleep, 7,000 ft., 1.
_E. m. consobrinus_: Montana: _Madison Co._: 26 mi. NW West
Yellowstone, 6,100 ft., 1. Wyoming: _Sublette Co._: 5 mi. E and
9 mi. N Pinedale, 9,100 ft., 2. _Uinta Co._: 10 mi. S and 1 mi.
W Robertson, 8,700 ft., 1; 13 mi. S and 2 mi. E Robertson, 9,200
ft., 2. Utah: _Uintah Co._: Paradise Park, 21 mi. W and 15 mi. N
Vernal, 10,050 ft., 8. Colorado: _Jackson Co._: 9-1/2 mi. W and
2 mi. N Walden, 8,400 ft., 1.
_E. m. jacksoni_: Michigan: _Menominee Co._: 7 mi. E Stephenson,
4 (MM). Wisconsin: _Juneau Co._: Camp Douglas, 1 (NM).
_E. m. minimus_: Wyoming: _Natrona Co._: 27 mi. N and 1 mi. E
Powder River, 6,075 ft., 1; 16 mi. S and 11 mi. W Waltman, 6,950
ft., 1; Sun Ranch, 5 mi. W Independence Rock, 6,000 ft., 1.
_Uinta Co._: 8-1/2 mi. W Ft. Bridger, 7,100 ft., 1; 2 mi. W Ft.
Bridger, 6,700 ft., 1; unspecified, 3 (MM). _Sweetwater Co._:
Kinney Ranch, 21 mi. S Bitter Creek, 6,800 ft., 1; 32 mi. S and
22 mi. E Rock Springs, 7,025 ft., 3; 33 mi. S Bitter Creek, 1.
_E. m. operarius_: Wyoming: _Converse Co._: 21-1/2 mi. S and
24-1/2 mi. W Douglas, 1. _Carbon Co._: 8 mi. N and 19-1/2 mi. E
Savery, 8,800 ft., 1; 5 mi. N and 5 mi. E Savery, 6,900 ft., 1.
_Albany Co._: 3 mi. ESE Browns Peak, 10,000 ft., 1. Colorado:
_Rocky Mountain National Park_, 1 (MM). _Boulder Co._:
Unspecified, 1 (NM). _Gunnison Co._: 7 mi. S and 7 mi. W
Gunnison, 8,150 ft., 1. _Saguache Co._: 5 mi. N and 22 mi. W
Saguache, 10,000 ft., 2. _Archuleta Co._: Unspecified, 1 (MM); 5
mi. S and 25 mi. W Antonito, 9,600 ft., 3. _Costilla Co._:
Unspecified, 1 (MM). New Mexico: _Taos Co._: 23 mi. S and 6 mi.
E Taos, 8,750 ft., 3.
_E. m. pallidus_: Montana: _Fergus Co._: Unspecified, 1 (MM).
_Sweetgrass Co._: Unspecified, 1 (MM). Wyoming: _Campbell Co._:
4 mi. S and 3 mi. W Rockypoint, 1; Ivy Creek, 8 mi. W and 5 mi.
N Spotted Horse, 3; Middle Butte, 6,010 ft., 38 mi. S and 19 mi.
W Gillette, 1.
_E. m. silvaticus_: South Dakota: _Pennington Co._: Unspecified,
1 (MM). _Custer Co._: Unspecified, 2 (MM). Wyoming: _Weston
Co._: 1-1/2 mi. E Buckhorn, 6,150 ft., 3.
#Eutamias townsendii# (Bachman)