Cynomys gunnisoni
| Gunnison's Prairie Dog
(Cynomys gunnisoni) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Sciuromorpha |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Subfamily: | Xerinae |
| Tribe: | Marmotini |
| Genus: | Cynomys |
| Subgenus: | Leucocrossuromys |
| Binomial details | |
| Cynomys gunnisoni (S. F. Baird, 1855) | |
| Sound | |
| Sound recordings at xeno-canto | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
The Gunnison's Prairie Dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) is medium-sized for the genus. It is limited to high mountain valleys and plateaus in the southern Rocky Mountains (Pizzimenti and Hoffmann, 1973).
Description
From Pizzimenti and Hoffmann (1973): "The dorsal color is yellowish buff intermixed with blackish hairs. The top of the head, sides of cheeks, and "eyebrows" are noticeably darker than other parts of the pelage... The proximal half of the tail is the same color as the dorsal pelage; the distal one-half has a grayish center tipped with grayish-white hairs."
Museum specimens
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Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. -
Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905.
External measurements
Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.
| Part of range | Reference | Total length | Tail length | Hindfoot length | Ear length | Mass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona (vicinity of Seligman, Flagstaff, Winslow) | Hoffmeister (1986) | 302–375 (n=10) | 40–71 (n=10) | 49–60 (n=10) | ||
| Colorado | Armstrong et al. (2010) | 300–390 | 40–64 | 53–61 | 450–1,350 |
Skull
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Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. Dorsal view of skull. -
Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. Ventral view of skull. -
Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. Lateral view of skull. -
Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. Dorsal view of the mandible. -
Holotype: USNM 137555. Cynomys gunnisoni zuniensis. Adult male. Wingate, McKinley County, New Mexico. Collected 26 June 1905. Lateral view of the left mandible.
Subspecies
For subspecies, see File:Sackett et al 2014 Cynomys gunnisoni subspecies.pdf.
Similar species
From Pizzimenti and Hoffmann (1973): "Total length of adult Gunnison's prairie dogs varies from 309 to 373 mm and adults weigh 650 to 1200 g; males average larger than females. The species thus is smaller than C. leucurus, but slightly larger than C. parvidens, the other two species in the subgenus Leucocrossuromys. The dorsal color is yellowish buff intermixed with blackish hairs. The top of the head, sides of cheeks, and "eyebrows" are noticeably darker than other parts of the pelage. The species differs from black-tailed prairie dogs (C. ludovicianus and C. mexicanus, subgenus Cynomys) in having a much shorter tail (39 to 68 mm), less than one-fifth the total body length. The proximal half of the tail is the same color as the dorsal pelage; the distal one-half has a grayish center tipped with grayish-white hairs. Tail color usually demarcates C. gunnisoni from other white-tailed species, which possess pure white hairs on the distal one-half of the tail (Clark et al., 1971)."
References
Baird SF. 1855-06-15. Characteristics of some new species of North American Mammalia, collected chiefly in connection with the U. S. surveys of a railroad route to the Pacific. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 7:333-336.
Clark TW. Hoffmann RS, Nadler, CF. 1971. Cynomys leucurus. Mammalian Species (7):1-4.
Pizzimenti JJ, Hoffmann RS. 1973. Cynomys gunnisoni. Mammalian Species (25):1-4. https://doi.org/10.2307/3503977
Sackett LC, Seglund A, Guralnick RP, Mazzella MN, Wagner DM, Busch JD, Martin AP. 2014. Evidence for two subspecies of Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni), and the general importance of the subspecies concept. Biological Conservation 174:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.03.010