Utah Prairie Dog
Encyclopedia
The Utah prairie dog is the smallest species
of prairie dog
, a member of the squirrel
family
of rodent
s native to the south central steppe
s of the US
state of Utah
.
Like all prairie dogs, the Utah prairie dog is an active forager, eating a wide array of vegetation including grass
es, flower
s, and seed
s and sometimes insects. It is a small mammal, usually standing just 9.8 – long, and weighing about 1.5 –. Its fur has a brown coloring, and it has a white-tipped tail. They build extensive "towns" of underground tunnels and chambers, each town composed of a population of members of an extended prairie dog family. Many other species make use of their burrows, including owls, snakes, and other rodents. Litters are 3–6 large.
, with a status
of Endangered, last assessed in 2008.
The Utah prairie dog is listed as a threatened species
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
. In 1972, studies estimated a population of 3,300 Utah prairie dogs in 37 colonies. Studies by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
in Spring 2004 reported 4,022 Utah prairie dogs, a number believed to reflect half of the total current population. The Utah prairie dog can do significant damage to farms by digging holes and eating crops, drawing the ire of Utah farmers, who have used poison liberally to destroy the animal. This is a major reason for the population decline, though there are other factors, such as "land development, deteriorating rangeland health, the encroachment of woody vegetation, sylvatic plague, and drought." Conservation efforts include encouraging landowners to improve the health of their rangelands, and compensating farmers who set aside areas that the prairie dogs may use.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
, a member of the squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s native to the south central steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s of the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Like all prairie dogs, the Utah prairie dog is an active forager, eating a wide array of vegetation including grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es, flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s, and seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s and sometimes insects. It is a small mammal, usually standing just 9.8 – long, and weighing about 1.5 –. Its fur has a brown coloring, and it has a white-tipped tail. They build extensive "towns" of underground tunnels and chambers, each town composed of a population of members of an extended prairie dog family. Many other species make use of their burrows, including owls, snakes, and other rodents. Litters are 3–6 large.
Conservation status
The species appears in the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesIUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
, with a status
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group is still extant and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future...
of Endangered, last assessed in 2008.
The Utah prairie dog is listed as a threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species
This list contains only the bird and mammal species described as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It contains species not only in the U.S. and its territories, but also species only found abroad. It does not contain fish, amphibians, reptiles, plants, or invertebrates,...
. In 1972, studies estimated a population of 3,300 Utah prairie dogs in 37 colonies. Studies by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of the state's wildlife, and to ensure its future and...
in Spring 2004 reported 4,022 Utah prairie dogs, a number believed to reflect half of the total current population. The Utah prairie dog can do significant damage to farms by digging holes and eating crops, drawing the ire of Utah farmers, who have used poison liberally to destroy the animal. This is a major reason for the population decline, though there are other factors, such as "land development, deteriorating rangeland health, the encroachment of woody vegetation, sylvatic plague, and drought." Conservation efforts include encouraging landowners to improve the health of their rangelands, and compensating farmers who set aside areas that the prairie dogs may use.
External links
- prairie dogs videos (in English)
- Smithsonian: North American Mammals: Cynomys parvidens
- Mammalian Species account for Utah prairie dog
- http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOOP2=exact&CISOMODE=grid&CISOGRID=thumbnail,A,1;title,A,1;subjec,A,0;common,200,0;none,A,0;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOBIB=title,A,1,N;identi,A,0,N;common,200,0,N;none,A,0,N;none,A,0,N;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOTHUMB=20%20%284x5%29;title,none,none,none,none&CISOTITLE=20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOHIERA=20;identi,title,none,none,none&CISOSUPPRESS=0&CISOFIELD1=subjec&CISOROOT=/wss&CISOBOX1=Mammals&CISOFIELD2=common&CISOBOX2=Utah+Prairie+DogAudio recordings of the Utah Prairie Dog]