Black-tailed prairie dog  (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Species information

Videos and images

Authentication

Authenticated (21/02/08) by Dr. Debra Shier, Applied Animal Ecology, Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego. 
http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/staff/bio_shier.html

Glossary

  • Colony: a group of organisms living together. Individuals in a colony are not physiologically connected and may not be related, such as a colony of birds.
  • Diurnal: active during the day.
  • Gestation: the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth.
  • Hibernate: hibernation is a winter survival strategy characteristic of some mammals in which an animal’s metabolic rate slows down and a state of deep sleep is attained. Whilst hibernating, animals survive on stored reserves of fat that they have accumulated in summer.
  • Invertebrate: animal with no backbone.
  • Polygyny: in animals, a pattern of mating in which a male has more than one female partner.
  • Prairies: Extensive areas of flat or rolling, predominantly treeless grassland, especially the large tract or plain of central North America.
  • Territory: area occupied and defended by an animal, a pair of animals or a colony.

References

  1. IUCN Red List (June, 2009)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (November, 2006)
    http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=54
  3. Blue Planet Biomes (November, 2006)
    http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie_dog.htm
  4. Davis, W.B. and Schmidly, D.J. (1994) The Mammals of Texas.Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas. Available at: http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/
  5. Burnie, D. (2001) Animal.Dorling Kindersley, London.
  6. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Mountain-Prairie Region – Endangered Species Programme (November, 2006)
    http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/btprairiedog/
  7. Hoogland, J. (1995) The Black-tailed Prairie Dog: Social Life of a Burrowing Mammal.University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  8. Texas Parks and Wildlife (November, 2006)
    http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/prairie/
  9. Animal Diversity Web (November, 2006)
    http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cynomys_ludovicianus.html
  10. The Prairie Dog Coalition (November, 2006)
    http://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/
left