Gunnison's prairie dog is one of five species of prairie dog, a group of burrowing rodents in the squirrel family. It lives mainly in the Four Corners region of the United States, and about three quarters of the population are found in Arizona and New Mexico. The animals use high desert, grassland, meadows, hillsides and broad valleys, often among sagebrush and similar shrubs, at elevations of roughly 1,800 to 3,000 metres. Adults are 30 to 36 centimetres long and weigh about 0.7 to 1.1 kilograms, and it is the only prairie dog with 40 chromosomes rather than 50. Colonies can hold several hundred individuals divided into smaller family territories. The species is diurnal, hibernates in winter and uses a complex set of alarm barks. Its numbers are described as falling because of shooting, plague outbreaks and poisoning.
Facts
Conservation Status Activity Pattern Classification
Population Trend Connections
Child Taxon Of
Cynomys, Taxa Source Gunnison's prairie dog (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Source Gunnison's prairie dog (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Gunnison's prairie dog (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
Gunnison's prairie dogs are primarily distributed in the Four Corners region of the United States.
Sources
1. Gunnison's prairie dog (Wikipedia)
Lead
Gunnison's prairie dogs are primarily distributed in the Four Corners region of the United States.
Diet
Their diet usually consists of grasses, herbs, and leaves.
Social structure
but they can live up to eight years of age.
Social structure, population trend
The population of the Gunnison's prairie dog is declining drastically due to three major factors: shootings, plague cycles, and poisoning.
In Biome: Grassland, Habitat
They can be found in high desert, grasslands, meadows, hillsides, broad alluvial valleys and floodplains.
View the Source2. Animal Diversity Web: Cynomys gunnisoni (Gunnison's prairie dog)
Animal Diversity WebConservation Status, IUCN Red List
Least Concern
Behavior
Gunnison's prairie dogs are strictly diurnal, and their greatest periods of activity
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