Tamias minimus scrutator [Ellerman], Fam. and Genera of Living Rodents, British Mus. Nat. Hist., p. 432, June 8, 1940.
Fig. 80. Distribution of the least chipmunk in Washington. A. Tamias minimus scrutator. B. Tamias minimus grisescens.
Type.—Obtained near Blanco Mountain, 10500 ft. elevation, Mono County, California, by J. [Grinnell] on July 28, 1917; type in Museum of Vertebrate Zoölogy.
Racial characters.—Buffy color; wide dark stripes and narrow pale stripes.
Measurements.—A male and a female from Sunnyside, Yakima County, measure respectively; total length 186, 186; length of tail 81, 82; hind foot 31, 31; ear 9, 10.
Distribution.—The sagebrush areas west of the Columbia River. Present in scattered and widely separated areas, ranging, according to [Howell] (1929: 41), north to Ellensburg and south to Wiley City.
This species is a member of the Great Basin Fauna that entered the state from Oregon. The population in Washington is now isolated north and west of the Columbia River but seems not to differ from least chipmunks from Oregon and Nevada.