Utah Prairie Dog Information & Utah Prairie Dog Links at HealthHaven.com

Utah Prairie Dog
Conservation status
	; Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Mammalia;
Order:	Rodentia;
Suborder:	Sciuromorpha;
Family:	Sciuridae;
Genus:	Cynomys;
Species:	C. parvidens;
Binomial name
	Cynomys parvidens; Allen, 1905
	Utah Prairie Dog range in 1920 (ochre), 1970 (yellow) and 1991 (red)

The Utah Prairie Dog (Cynomys parvidens) is the smallest species of prairie dog, a member of the squirrel family of rodents native to the south central steppes 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 grasses, flowers, and seeds and sometimes insects. 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.

[edit] Conservation status

The species appears in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a status of Endangered, last assessed in 2008.^[1]

The Utah Prairie Dog is listed as a threatened species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It was once listed as an endangered species. 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.^[2]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Linzey, A. V., Rosmarino, N. & NatureServe (Willson, K., Roth, E., Hammerson, G. & Cannings, S.) (2008). Cynomys parvidens. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 January 2009.
^ US Fish and Wildlife Service: Utah Prairie Dog

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cynomys parvidens

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[iucn-0] Linzey, A. V., Rosmarino, N. & NatureServe (Willson, K., Roth, E., Hammerson, G. & Cannings, S.) (2008). Cynomys parvidens. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 January 2009.

[1] US Fish and Wildlife Service: Utah Prairie Dog

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