Chipmunks Or Squirrel. Chipmunks also have shorter less bushy tails than squirrels. Both are small rodents that eat nuts the family sciuridae consists of tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, flying.
In popular usage, however, chipmunks are rarely if ever called squirrels, as you suggest.
Obviously, squirrels are much larger than chipmunks. They do not have stripes on the head or body. Squirrels is a family, chipmunks is a genus. In fact, chipmunks make up about 25 of the 400 different species classified in the squirrel family.