[lit-ideas] Philosophy of Chipmunks
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 08:15:45 -0500 (EST)
Or is it chipmunk philosophy?
In a message dated 11/28/2013 10:37:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx writes:
"In one [Eagleton, Ideology] is discussing the notion that there is a
difference between politically motivated and straightforward description. He
cites as an example of the former "Prince Charles is a fine example of
British manhood." Then, as an example of the second, he offers "Prince Andrew
has
the brain of a chipmunk.""
McEvoy may agree with me that Eagleton, as cited by McCreery, is dismissing
the implicature.
Also, I would distinguish between:
i. Andrew has the brain of a chipmunk.
and
ii. This chipmunk has the brain of Andrew.
McEvoy may want to expland on the 'shift of sense' of 'fine' in "a fine
example of manhood" -- as in "Charles is an example of manhood" _simpliciter_
versus the evaluative, 'fine' (from Latin 'finus', literally, 'thin'), "he
is a FINE example of FINE manhood" (overinformative?) and "he is an example
of fine manhood" -- The implicatures and collocations of "British" add to
the entanglements (vide Short/Lewis, Latin Dictionary, "implicatura",
entanglement).
Note, incidentally, that Prince Charles and Prince Andrew are brothers.
Cheers,
Speranza
---
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. All species
of chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian
chipmunk, which is found in Asia.
Chipmunks may be classified either as a single genus, Tamias (Greek:
ταμίας), or as three genera: Tamias, which includes the eastern chipmunk;
Eutamias, which includes the Siberian chipmunk; and Neotamias, which includes
the 23 remaining, mostly western, species. These classifications are
arbitrary, and most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the
chipmunks in a single genus. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA show that
the
divergence between each of the three chipmunk groups is comparable to the
genetic dissimilarity between Marmota and Spermophilus.[1][2][3][4]
The genus name Tamias is Greek for "treasurer", "steward", or
"housekeeper",[5] which is a reference to the animals' role in plant dispersal
through
their habit of collecting and storing food for winter use.[6]
The common name originally may have been spelled "chitmunk," from the
native Odawa (Ottawa) word jidmoonh, meaning "red squirrel" (cf. Ojibwe,
ajidamoo).[7][8] The earliest form cited in the Oxford English Dictionary (from
1842) is "chipmonk," however, "chipmunk" appears in several books from the
1820s and 1830s.[9] Other early forms include "chipmuck" and "chipminck," and
in the 1830s they were also referred to as "chip squirrels;" probably in
reference to the sound they make. In the mid-1800s, John James Audubon and
his sons, included a lithograph of the chipmunk in their Viviparous
Quadrupeds of North America, calling it the "Chipping Squirrel [or]
Hackee."[10]
Chipmunks have also been referred to as "striped squirrels," "chippers,"
"munks," "timber tigers," or "ground squirrels" (although the name "ground
squirrel" usually refers to other squirrels, such as those of the genus
Spermophilus).
Chipmunks have an omnivorous diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and
other fruits, and buds.[11][12] They also commonly eat grass, shoots, and
many other forms of plant matter, as well as fungi, insects and other
arthropods, small frogs, worms, and bird eggs.[11][12][13][14][15][16] Around
humans, chipmunks can eat cultivated grains and vegetables, and other plants
from farms and gardens, so they are sometimes considered pests.[11][17]
Chipmunks mostly forage on the ground, but they climb trees to obtain nuts
such
as hazelnuts and acorns.[11][18] At the beginning of autumn, many species
of chipmunk begin to stockpile nonperishable foods for winter. They mostly
cache their foods in a larder in their burrows and remain in their nests
until spring, unlike some other species, which make multiple small caches of
food.[11] Cheek pouches allow chipmunks to carry multiple food items to
their burrows for either storage or consumption.[12]
Eastern chipmunks mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing
litters of four or five young twice each year.[11] Western chipmunks breed
only once a year. The young emerge from the burrow after about six weeks
and strike out on their own within the next two weeks.[19]
These small mammals fulfill several important functions in forest
ecosystems. Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial
role
in seedling establishment. They consume many different kinds of fungi,
including those involved in symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with trees, and
are an important vector for dispersal of the spores of subterranean
sporocarps (truffles) which have co-evolved with these and other mycophagous
mammals and thus lost the ability to disperse their spores through the air.[20]
Chipmunks construct expansive burrows which can be more than 3.5 m in
length with several well-concealed entrances. The sleeping quarters are kept
extremely clean as shells and feces are stored in refuse tunnels.
The eastern chipmunk hibernates in the winter, while western chipmunks do
not, relying on the stores in their burrows.[21]
Chipmunks play an important role as prey for various predatory mammals and
birds, but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly with
regard to bird eggs and nestlings. In Oregon, mountain bluebirds (Siala
currucoides) have been observed energetically mobbing chipmunks that they see
near their nest trees.[citation needed]
Chipmunks typically live about three years, although have been observed
living to nine years in captivity.[22]
Chipmunks in captivity are said to sleep for an average of about 15 hours a
day. It is thought that mammals which can sleep in hiding, such as rodents
and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that must remain on alert.[23]
Species list[edit]
Subgenus Eutamias
Siberian chipmunk, Eutamias sibiricus
Subgenus Tamias[24]
Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus
Subgenus Neotamias
Allen's chipmunk, Neotamias senex
Alpine chipmunk, Neotamias alpinus
Buller's chipmunk, Neotamias bulleri
California chipmunk, Neotamias obscurus
Cliff chipmunk, Neotamias dorsalis
Colorado chipmunk, Neotamias quadrivittatus
Durango chipmunk, Neotamias durangae
Gray-collared chipmunk, Neotamias cinereicollis
Gray-footed chipmunk, Neotamias canipes
Hopi chipmunk, Neotamias rufus
Least chipmunk, Neotamias minimus
Lodgepole chipmunk, Neotamias speciosus
Long-eared chipmunk, Neotamias quadrimaculatus
Palmer's chipmunk, Neotamias palmeri
Panamint chipmunk, Neotamias panamintinus
Merriam's chipmunk, Neotamias merriami
Red-tailed chipmunk, Neotamias ruficaudus
Siskiyou chipmunk, Neotamias siskiyou
Sonoma chipmunk, Neotamias sonomae
Townsend's chipmunk, Neotamias townsendii
Uinta chipmunk, Neotamias umbrinus
Yellow-cheeked chipmunk, Neotamias ochrogenys
Yellow-pine chipmunk, Neotamias amoenus
Extinct:
†Tamias aristus
See also[edit]
Golden-mantled ground squirrel
References
1.Jump up ^ Wilson, D. E.; D. M. Reeder (2005). "Mammal Species of the
World". Archived from the original on 2007-06-23. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
2.Jump up ^ Piaggio, A. J.; Spicer, G. S. (2001). "Molecular phylogeny of
the chipmunks inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome
oxidase II gene sequences" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20:
335–
350.
3.Jump up ^ Piaggio, Antoinette J.; Spicer, Greg S. (2000). "Molecular
Phylogeny of the Chipmunk Genus Tamias Based on the Mitochondrial Cytochrome
Oxidase Subunit II Gene" (PDF). Journal of Mammalian Evolution 7 (3).
4.Jump up ^ Musser, G. G.; Durden, L. A.; Holden, M. E.; Light, J. E.
(2010). "Systematic review of endemic Sulawesi squirrels (Rodentia,
Sciuridae),
with descriptions of new species of associated sucking lice (Insecta,
Anoplura), and phylogenetic and zoogeographic assessments of sciurid lice".
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (339).
5.Jump up ^ Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott. (1940). A Greek-English
Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the
assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
6.Jump up ^ Snyder, D.P. (1982). "Tamias striatus". Retrieved 2013-03-05.
7.Jump up ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved
2012-12-07.
8.Jump up ^ Nichols, John D. and Earl Nyholm (1995). A Concise Dictionary
of Minnesota Ojibwe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
9.Jump up ^ "Google Books". Google.com. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
10.Jump up ^ Audubon, John James; Bachman, John (1967). Imperial
Collection of Audubon Mammals. New York: Bonanza Books, a division of Crown
Publishing Group. p. 52.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Hazard, Evan B. (1982). The Mammals of
Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 52–54. ISBN 0-8166-0952-7.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c "West Virginia Wildlife Magazine: Wildlife
Diversity Notebook. Eastern chipmunk". Wvdnr.gov. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
13.Jump up ^ "Eastern Chipmunk - Tamias striatus - NatureWorks".
Nhptv.org. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
14.Jump up ^ Linzey, A.V.; NatureServe (2008). "Tamias minimus". IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for
Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
15.Jump up ^ Linzey, A.V.; NatureServe (2008). "Tamias sibiricus". IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for
Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
16.Jump up ^ Linzey, A.V.; NatureServe (2008). "Tamias townsendi". IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for
Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
17.Jump up ^ "Chipmunks | Living With Wildlife". Mass Audubon. Retrieved
2012-12-07.
18.Jump up ^ "Chipmunk at Animal Corner". Animalcorner.co.uk. 2004-01-01.
Retrieved 2012-12-07.
19.Jump up ^ Schwartz, Charles Walsh; Elizabeth Reeder Schwartz, Jerry J.
Conley (2001). The Wild Mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press.
pp. 135–140. ISBN 0-8262-1359-6.
20.Jump up ^ Apostol, Dean; Marcia Sinclair (2006). Restoring the Pacific
Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia.
Island Press. p. 112. ISBN 1-55963-078-7.
21.Jump up ^ Kays, R. W.; Wilson, Don E. (2009). Mammals of North America
(2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-691-14092-6.
22.Jump up ^ "Information on Chipmunks". Essortment.com. 1986-05-16.
Retrieved 2012-12-07.
23.Jump up ^ "40 Winks?" Jennifer S. Holland, National Geographic Vol.
220, No. 1. July 2011.
24.Jump up ^ Tamias, Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed.
Further reading[edit]
Baack, Jessica K. and Paul V. Switzer. "Alarm Calls Affect Foraging
Behavior in Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias Striatus, Rodentia: Sciuridae)."
Ethology.
Vol. 106. Dec. 2003. 1057–1066.
Gordon, Kenneth Llewellyn. The Natural History and Behavior of the Western
Chipmunk and the Mantled Ground Squirrel. Oregon: 1943
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