thamia

thamia

Thamia is the common name of rodents classified in the genus Tamias, of the squirrel family (Sciuridae). The group includes 23 species, all of them native to North America, except one, which can be found in Siberia.

Etymology and Taxonomy

Tamias means, in Greek, "store", a reference to the habit of these animals to store food for consumption in the winter. Twenty-five species belong to this family, with one species in northeastern Asia, one in eastern North America, and the rest natural in western North America.