Cynomys gunnisoni (Baird, 1855)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6819049 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FFBE-ED44-FAC3-F51BFB61FFD3 |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Cynomys gunnisoni |
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Gunnison’s Prairie Dog
French: Chien-de-prairie de Gunnison / German: Gunnison-Prariehund / Spanish: Perrito de la pradera de Gunnison
Taxonomy. Spermophilus gunnison: Baird, 1855 ,
“Cochitope [Cochetopa] Pass of Rocky Mountains,” Saguache Co., Colorado, USA.
Two subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
C.g.gunnisoniBaird,1855—EpartofthedistributioninColorado,andNNewMexicoinSCUSA.
C. g. zuniensis Hollister, 1916 — W part of the distribution in SE Utah, NW Arizona,
and NW New Mexico in SC USA.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 317-390 mm (males) and 309-338 mm (females), tail 40-60 mm (males) and 46-61 mm (females); weight 0-46.1-3 kg (males) and 0-46— 0-75 kg (females). Gunnison’s Prairie Dog has dorsal pelage that is buff to pale yellow, grizzled with small amounts of black. Head is paler, with cream to white suffused with buff. Faint black patch occurs between eyes and sides of the snout. Venter is cream to white, blending gradually with darker dorsum. Tail fades to pale buff or white tip. Diploid number is 2n = 40. Subspecies zuniensis is a slightly larger, darker, and more cinnamon-colored grassland form.
Habitat. High-elevation open montane valleys and plateaus, but thrives in modest shrub and open pinyon-juniper (Pinus, Pinaceae-Juniperus, Cupressaceae) savannas.
Food and Feeding. Gunnison’s Prairie Dog is an herbivore that feeds on a variety of grasses, forbs, flowers, shrubs, and seeds. In pastures, it has only modest dietary overlap with livestock.
Breeding. Gunnison’s Prairie Dog lives in multi-burrow colonies. Females mate as yearlings and produce a single litter per year. Males sometimes mate as yearlings but more often reproduction is delayed until two years old. Females usually mate within several days of their emergence from hibernation. Young are born in burrows after gestation of 28-30 days. Multiple paternities oflitters are frequent and may approach 80%. Young remain belowground for c¢.5-6:5 weeks when 1-7 young emerge from nursery burrow. Weaning usually is not complete until 1-3 weeks after juveniles first emerge from nursery burrow, and communal nursing is common following their first emergence.
Activity patterns. Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs are diurnal and hibernate in burrows for up to five months in late October-February.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Burrows are relatively complex, with multiple entrances. They are generally 2-3 m deep and as much as 13 m long, with 3-6 entrances. Gunnison’s Prairie Dog is highly social. Social groups (“clans”) are organized into territories that generally contain one adult male, one or more adult females, yearlings, and young-of-the-year. Neighboring groups do not overlap. Home range overlap among group membersis nearly complete. In most populations, females are philopatric, and clans are composed of close female kin that have settled. Amicable interactions among adults and juveniles include kissing, analand oral-gland sniffing, and playing. Hostile interactions among adults include fights, chases, and territorial disputes. Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs can distinguish potential threats and even identify specific characteristics of potential predators and encode this information into their elaborate high-pitched alarm calls.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Population trend of Gunnison’s Prairie Dog is declining. Loss of habitat, due to conversion to agriculture and livestock grazing, threatens persistence. Outbreaks of sylvatic plague can cause rapid reductions to local populations. Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs are hunted for recreation in much of their distribution. They are also sometimes considered as competitors for forage in cattle country or as a threatto livestock because their open burrows are thought to be potential hazards to grazing animals—both of these concerns are exaggerated, Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs have been poisoned and shot for pest removal in many areas. Some researchers consider species of Cynomys to be keystone species for ecosystem health. Burrows increase habitat heterogeneity and plant communities associated with these burrows. Gunnison’s Prairie Dog is also critical to recovery of the Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes), a specialist on prairie dogs.
Bibliography. Bartz et al. (2007), Davidson & Lightfoot (2008), Haynie et al. (2003), Hoogland (1998a, 1998b, 1999, 2003a, 2003b), Hoogland et al. (2012), Pizzimenti & Hoffmann (1973), Rayor (1988), Sackett et al. (2012), Slobodchikoff, Briggs et al. (2012), Slobodchikoff, Paseka & Verdolin (2009), Thorington et al. (2012).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
