Gunnison's prairie dog
| Gunnison's prairie dog | ||||||||||||
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Gunnison's prairie dog ( Cynomys gunnisoni ) |
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| Cynomys gunnisoni | ||||||||||||
| Baird , 1858 |
Gunnison's prairie dog ( Cynomys gunnisoni ) is a species of squirrel from the genus of prairie dogs ( Cynomys ). It occurs in the southwest of the United States in the American states of Utah , Colorado , Arizona and New Mexico .
features
Gunnison's prairie dog is the smallest type of prairie dog and reaches a head-torso length of about 30.9 to 33.8 centimeters, the tail is about 46 to 61 millimeters long. As with all prairie dogs, it is significantly shorter than the rest of the body. The weight is around 460 to 1300 grams, with the males having about 1.3 times the weight of the females when they enter hibernation. The animals have a pale yellow to sand-colored back color with some black parts without any noticeable markings or spots. The belly side is white to cream-colored and slowly merges into the darker back color on the sides. The color of the head corresponds to that of the back, but it is often a lighter cream to white color. There is often an indistinct black spot between the eyes and the sides of the muzzle region. The tail has a light sand-colored or white tip.
distribution
Gunnison's Prairie Dog is found in the southwestern United States in southeastern Utah , southwestern Colorado , northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico .
Way of life
Gunnison's prairie dog is diurnal and lives mainly in open valleys and steppe areas at high altitudes up to the steppes of the basin, which are characterized by pine and juniper.
The animals are herbivorous and, like other ground squirrels, their food consists mainly of different parts of plants such as grasses, sedges, leaves and seeds of the plants that occur, insects and other animal foods are only consumed very rarely. The animals do not set up any food stores. Like other ground squirrels, they live on the ground and in underground burrows. They hibernate, which can last up to five months and normally last from October to February, and spend this time in their burrows. These are usually 2 to 3 meters deep and on average around 13 meters long. They often have three to four inputs and outputs, but there can also be up to six inputs. The prairie dogs are very social and live in colonies that predominantly consist of a sexually mature male, one or more females and young animals from the last two years. The territories of neighboring colonies usually only slightly overlap. The females are mostly philopatric and stay in the colonies in which they were born, the females of the colony are accordingly closely related. The males usually leave the burrow in the second year of life. The animals maintain close physical contact with each other, they greet each other by rubbing their cheeks together and smelling each other in the anal area and on the scent glands, and they also play with each other. There are also conflicts over territory between the adult animals of neighboring colonies, which are fought in short fights and threatening gestures. In case of danger, the animals emit specific alarm calls in which they can also express the type of danger.
The mating season of the animals usually begins a few days after the females wake up in spring and varies depending on altitude and weather. The females only have offspring once a year and the young are born in the underground nest after a gestation period of around 28 to 30 days, with a litter consisting of an average of four to five and a maximum of up to seven young. The litter very often consists of offspring from several fathers, the proportion of multiple fathers is around 80 percent. The young animals leave the den for the first time after 5 to 6.5 weeks, and weaning takes place two to three weeks later. The females reach sexual maturity in the following year, males sometimes mate as yearlings, but usually delay this until they are two years old.
The mortality of the animals is high. About 50 percent of the animals die in the first year and only about 15 percent survive into the second year of life. The maximum lifespan of the males is around five years, females can live up to six years. The most important predators are various predators and birds of prey, including black-footed turtles ( Mustela nigripes ). Among the parasites , the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is transmitted by fleas , is responsible for high mortality.
Systematics
Gunnison's prairie dog is classified as a separate species within the genus of prairie dogs ( Cynomys ), which consists of five species. The first scientific description comes from the American zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird from 1858. It was based on individuals from the Cochetopa Pass in the Rocky Mountains in Saguache County , Colorado. The species is named after Captain John Williams Gunnison , officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers , after whom the city of Gunnison in Colorado and the Gunnison River are also named.
Within the species, two subspecies are distinguished with the nominate form :
- Cynomys gunnisoni gunnisoni : nominate form; occurs in the eastern part of the distribution area in the mountain regions. The shape is slightly smaller and paler and more sand-colored than C. g. zuiensis
- Cynomys gunnisoni Zuniensis : in the grasslands in the western part of the range. The shape is slightly larger and more cinnamon-colored than the nominate shape.
Status, threat and protection
Gunnison's prairie dog is classified as Least Concern (LC) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified by the comparatively large and hardly smaller distribution area, although the populations and the number of colonies have decreased significantly compared to historical times. Potential threats arise primarily from the plague pathogen , which, in addition to the mortality of the animals, has also led to heavy hunting as a pest in pasture areas and as a potential pathogen and a correspondingly sharp decline in populations. In Arizona alone 91,000 animals were shot by hunters in 2001. In addition, there is killing by poisoning by farmers. Another hazard is the transformation of former steppe areas into agricultural areas.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 260-261 .
- ↑ a b c Cynomys gunnisoni in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.1. Listed by: AV Linzey, NatureServe (T. Mabee, S. Cannings, G. Hammerson), 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- ↑ John J. Pizzimento, Robert S. Hoffmann: Cynomys gunnisoni. Mammalian Species 25, 1973; Pp. 1-4. ( Full text ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )
- ↑ a b Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) gunnisoni . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 170; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
literature
- Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 260-261 .
- John J. Pizzimento, Robert S. Hoffmann: Cynomys gunnisoni. Mammalian Species 25, 1973; Pp. 1-4. ( Full text )
Web links
- Cynomys gunnisoni inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.1. Listed by: AV Linzey, NatureServe (T. Mabee, S. Cannings, G. Hammerson), 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2016.