Cynomys

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Cynomys

a genus of rodents comprising the prairie dogs; belongs to the family Sciuridae. Resembling the yellow suslik (Citellus fulvus) in appearance, the Cynomys have a body length of up to 40 cm and a tail length of 7 cm. The coloration is buff. There are five species, which are distributed on the plains and prairies, as well as on mountain plains (up to 3,200 m above sea level), of central and southern North America. They live in large colonies. The animals utter peculiar barklike sounds (hence the name “prairie dog”). The Cynomys are much less active in the winter and may hibernate. They feed on the aboveground parts of plants. There is one litter of up to ten offspring annually. The Cynomys are preyed upon by other animals. They are natural carriers of the causative agents of the bubonic plague.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Flea abundance on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) increases during plague epizootics.

Gene flow in a Yersinia pestis vector, Oropsylla hirsuta, during a plague epizootic

Species assessment for black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludoviciantes) in Wyoming.

Estimating black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus distribution in Texas

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and pocket gophers (Geomys bursarius), rodents that live in large colonies on the prairies of North America, provide one of the classic examples of mammals that structure the landscape, alter the species composition of the vegetation, and so facilitate other herbivores (Huntly and Inouye 1988, Whicker and Detling 1988a,b).

The role of mammals as ecosystem landscapers

Data on prairie dogs (Cynomys) provide evidence of plague-induced variation in populations.

Disruptions of ecosystems in Western North America due to invasion by plague. (Abstracts from the Symposium on Conservation Biology of Ground Squirrels and the Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem)

2:30 "The effects of food, temperature, and light on growth, metamorphosis, and sexual maturation in the mole salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)," Justin Andrist, Cari-Ann Hein, Evan Barker, and Chris Beachy, Department of Biology, Minot State University 2:50 BREAK 3:10 "Using a geographic information system to address the "selfish herd" hypothesis in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni)" Daniel McEwen *, Donna Bruns Stockrahm and Bryan Watters, Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

A. Rodger Denison competition--undergraduate division. ((Collegiate Communications--Undergraduate)

Despite their limited range of southwestern Utah, which includes Bryce Canyon National Park, Cynomys parvidens numbered about 95,000 individuals in the 1920s.

A Dog's Life

Due to loss of prairie habitat, species such as the white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii), black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides), plains pocket mouse (Perognat has flavescens), and plains harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys montanus) may be absent from parts of their historical ranges.

SHIFTING DISTRIBUTIONAL PATTERNS OF MAMMALS IN NEBRASKA

The evolution of coloniality in white-tailed and black-tailed prairie dogs (Sciuridae: Cynomys leucurus and Cynomys ludovicianus).

Burrow characteristics and habitat associations of armadillos in Brazil and the United States of America

Ritchie (1999) has demonstrated this effect in isolated colonies of a generalist grazing herbivore, the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens); local extinction rates decline dramatically with increasing food plant species diversity.