Black-tailed prairie dog  (Cynomys ludovicianus)

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.

1. IUCN Red List (January, 2008)
   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. CITES (November, 2006)
   http://www.cites.org
   
4. Blue Planet Biomes (November, 2006)
   http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie_dog.htm
   
5. 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/
   
6. Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London.
   
7. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Mountain-Prairie Region – Endangered Species Programme (November, 2006)
   http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/btprairiedog/
   
8. Hoogland, J. (1995) The Black-tailed Prairie Dog: Social Life of a Burrowing Mammal. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
   
9. Texas Parks and Wildlife (November, 2006)
   http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/prairie/
   
10. Animal Diversity Web (November, 2006)
    http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cynomys_ludovicianus.html
    
11. The Prairie Dog Coalition (November, 2006)
    http://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/