| comparative study of the forelimbs of the semifossorial prairie dog, cynomys gunnisoni, and the scansorial fox squirrel, sciurus niger. | a comparative study of the forelimbs of the semifossorial prairie dog, cynomys gunnisoni , and the scansorial tree squirrel, sciurus niger, was focused on the musculoskeletal design for digging in the former and climbing in the latter. based on lever arm mechanics, it was expected that the forelimb of the prairie dog would show features appropriate to the production of relatively large forces and that of the fox squirrel to relatively great velocity. force and lever arm measurements were made of ... | 1984 | 6726818 |
| dynamics of plague in a gunnison's prairie dog colony complex from new mexico. | a plague (yersinia pestis) epizootic spread through gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni), and possibly other rodent species, in the moreno valley in north-central new mexico between winter 1984-1985 and autumn 1987. we observed the progress of the epizootic and subsequent population recovery at four prairie dog towns within the valley during this period. at two towns (midlake and val verde) the prairie dogs were marked prior to the epizootic. at two additional towns (vega and south entran ... | 1997 | 9391954 |
| why do female gunnison's prairie dogs copulate with more than one male? | a female can usually obtain enough sperm to fertilize all her eggs from a single insemination, and copulation involves certain costs such as increased exposure to diseases and parasites. why, then, do females of so many species routinely copulate with more than one male? a 7-year study of marked individuals provides an answer for 239 female gunnison's prairie dogs (sciuridae: cynomys gunnisoni) living under natural conditions. the probability of pregnancy and parturition was 92% for females that ... | 1998 | 9480703 |
| a fuzzy-neural system for identification of species-specific alarm calls of gunnison's prairie dogs. | in this study we describe the design and application of an automated classification system that utilizes artificial intelligence to corroborate the finding that gunnison's prairie dogs have different alarm calls for different species of predators. this corroboration is strong because it utilizes an entirely different analysis technique than that used in the original research by slobodchikoff et al. [slobodchikoff, c.n., fischer, c., shapiro, j., 1986. predator-specific alarm calls of prairie dog ... | 2000 | 11011104 |
| sampling for sand flies (diptera: psychodidae) among prairie dog colonies on ranches with histories of vesicular stomatitis in new mexico and colorado. | the possible presence of sand flies (diptera: psychodidae) among colonies of gunnison's prairie dogs, cynomys gunnisoni baird, was investigated on or near ranches with histories of vesicular stomatitis (vs) in domestic livestock in the mid-rio grande river valley, nm, and west-slope region of colorado. sampling was conducted at six locations, three in each region, using three methods: standard down-draft suction/light traps, up-draft suction/light traps (both supplemented with co2), and burrow-e ... | 2002 | 12144304 |
| die-off of a gunnison's prairie dog colony in central colorado. ii. retrospective determination of plague infection in flea vectors, rodents, and man. | | 1962 | 14454082 |
| a method for identifying sounds used in the classification of alarm calls. | in this study, we present a methodology that identifies acoustic units in gunnison's prairie dog alarm calls and then uses those units to classify the alarm calls and bouts according to the species of predator that was present when the calls were vocalized. while traditional methods measure specific acoustic parameters in order to describe a vocalization, our method uses the variation in the internal structure of a vocalization to define possible information structures. using a simple representa ... | 2004 | 15182929 |
| perceptual specificity in the alarm calls of gunnison's prairie dogs. | gunnison's prairie dogs have a complex alarm communication system. we show that the escape responses of prairie dogs to naturally occurring live predators differed depending upon the species of predator. we also show that playbacks of alarm calls that were elicited originally by the live predators produced the same escape responses as the live predators themselves. the escape responses fell into two qualitatively different categories: running to the burrow and diving inside for hawks and humans, ... | 2006 | 16529880 |
| using self-organizing maps to recognize acoustic units associated with information content in animal vocalizations. | kohonen self-organizing neural networks, also called self-organizing maps (soms), have been used successfully to recognize human phonemes and in this way to aid in human speech recognition. this paper describes how soms also can be used to associate specific information content with animal vocalizations. a som was used to identify acoustic units in gunnison's prairie dog alarm calls that were vocalized in the presence of three different predator species. some of these acoustic units and their co ... | 2006 | 16708968 |
| acoustic structures in the alarm calls of gunnison's prairie dogs. | acoustic structures of sound in gunnison's prairie dog alarm calls are described, showing how these acoustic structures may encode information about three different predator species (red-tailed hawk-buteo jamaicensis; domestic dog-canis familaris; and coyote-canis latrans). by dividing each alarm call into 25 equal-sized partitions and using resonant frequencies within each partition, commonly occurring acoustic structures were identified as components of alarm calls for the three predators. alt ... | 2006 | 16708970 |
| prairie dog alarm calls encode labels about predator colors. | some animals have the cognitive capacity to differentiate between different species of predators and generate different alarm calls in response. however, the presence of any addition information that might be encoded into alarm calls has been largely unexplored. in the present study, three similar-sized human females walked through a gunnison's prairie dog (cynomys gunnisoni) colony wearing each of three different-colored shirts: blue, green, and yellow. we recorded the alarm calls and used disc ... | 2009 | 19116730 |
| flea abundance, diversity, and plague in gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in northern new mexico. | plague, a flea-transmitted infectious disease caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis, is a primary threat to the persistence of prairie dog populations (cynomys spp.). we conducted a 3-yr survey (2004-2006) of fleas from gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in valles caldera national preserve in new mexico. our objectives were to describe flea communities and identify flea and rodent species important to the maintenance of plague. we live-trapped p ... | 2010 | 20688629 |
| colorado animal-based plague surveillance systems: relationships between targeted animal species and prediction efficacy of areas at risk for humans. | human plague risks (yersinia pestis infection) are greatest when epizootics cause high mortality among this bacterium's natural rodent hosts. therefore, health departments in plague-endemic areas commonly establish animal-based surveillance programs to monitor y. pestis infection among plague hosts and vectors. the primary objectives of our study were to determine whether passive animal-based plague surveillance samples collected in colorado from 1991 to 2005 were sampled from high human plague ... | 2009 | 20836802 |
| permanent genetic resources added to molecular ecology resources database 1 august 2009-30 september 2009. | this article documents the addition of 238 microsatellite marker loci and 72 pairs of single nucleotide polymorphism (snp) sequencing primers to the molecular ecology resources database. loci were developed for the following species: adelges tsugae, artemisia tridentata, astroides calycularis, azorella selago, botryllus schlosseri, botrylloides violaceus, cardiocrinum cordatum var. glehnii, campylopterus curvipennis, colocasia esculenta, cynomys ludovicianus, cynomys leucurus, cynomys gunnisoni, ... | 2010 | 21565018 |
| population differences in host immune factors may influence survival of gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) during plague outbreaks. | over the past 40 yr, epizootics of plague (yersinia pestis) in northern arizona have reduced populations of the gunnison's prairie dog (cynomys gunnisoni), with the exception of a large population found in the aubrey valley (av). to examine potential mechanisms accounting for their survival, we collected prairie dog serum samples in 2005-2006 from av and a neighboring population near seligman (se), arizona. we quantified gene expression at 58 diverse immune proteins using a multiplexed enzyme-li ... | 2011 | 22102668 |
| genetic variation at the mhc drb1 locus is similar across gunnison's prairie dog (cynomys gunnisoni) colonies regardless of plague history. | yersinia pestis was introduced to north america around 1900 and leads to nearly 100% mortality in prairie dog (cynomys spp.) colonies during epizootic events, which suggests this pathogen may exert a strong selective force. we characterized genetic diversity at an mhc class ii locus (drb1) in gunnison's prairie dog (c. gunnisoni) and quantified population genetic structure at the drb1 versus 12 microsatellite loci in three large arizona colonies. two colonies, seligman (se) and espee ranch (es), ... | 2016 | 27066243 |
| apparent field safety of a raccoon poxvirus-vectored plague vaccine in free-ranging prairie dogs (cynomys spp.), colorado, usa. | prairie dogs (cynomys spp.) suffer high rates of mortality from plague. an oral sylvatic plague vaccine using the raccoon poxvirus vector (designated rcn-f1/v307) has been developed for prairie dogs. this vaccine is incorporated into palatable bait along with rhodamine b as a biomarker. we conducted trials in august and september 2012 to demonstrate uptake and apparent safety of the rcn-f1/v307 vaccine in two prairie dog species under field conditions. free-ranging prairie dogs and other associa ... | 2015 | 25588006 |
| age at vaccination may influence response to sylvatic plague vaccine (spv) in gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni). | gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) have been considered at greater risk from yersinia pestis (plague) infection in the montane portion of their range compared to populations at lower elevations, possibly due to factors related to flea transmission of the bacteria or greater host susceptibility. to test the latter hypothesis and determine whether vaccination against plague with an oral sylvatic plague vaccine (spv) improved survival, we captured prairie dogs from a c. g. gunnisoni or "mo ... | 2015 | 25589000 |
| the innate immune response may be important for surviving plague in wild gunnison's prairie dogs. | prairie dogs (cynomys spp.) are highly susceptible to yersinia pestis, with ≥99% mortality reported from multiple studies of plague epizootics. a colony of gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) in the aubrey valley (av) of northern arizona appears to have survived several regional epizootics of plague, whereas nearby colonies have been severely affected by y. pestis. to examine potential mechanisms accounting for survival in the av colony, we conducted a laboratory y. pestis challenge expe ... | 2013 | 24502719 |
| precipitation, climate change, and parasitism of prairie dogs by fleas that transmit plague. | fleas (insecta: siphonaptera) are hematophagous ectoparasites that can reduce the fitness of vertebrate hosts. laboratory populations of fleas decline under dry conditions, implying that populations of fleas will also decline when precipitation is scarce under natural conditions. if precipitation and hence vegetative production are reduced, however, then herbivorous hosts might suffer declines in body condition and have weakened defenses against fleas, so that fleas will increase in abundance. w ... | 2017 | 28359175 |
| plague in a colony of gunnison's prairie dogs ( cynomys gunnisoni) despite three years of infusions of burrows with 0.05% deltamethrin to kill fleas. | at valles caldera national preserve in new mexico, usa, infusing gunnison's prairie dog ( cynomys gunnisoni) burrows with an insecticide dust containing 0.05% deltamethrin killed fleas which transmit bubonic plague. the reduction in the number of fleas per prairie dog was significant and dramatic immediately after infusions, with a suggestion that the reduction persisted for as long as 12 mo. despite the lower flea counts, however, a plague epizootic killed >95% of prairie dogs after 3 yr of inf ... | 2017 | 29286262 |
| human case of bubonic plague resulting from the bite of a wild gunnison's prairie dog during translocation from a plague-endemic area. | plague is a zoonotic disease (transmitted mainly by fleas and maintained in nature by rodents) that causes severe acute illness in humans. we present a human plague case who became infected by the bite of a wild gunnison's prairie dog, and a good practical example of the one health approach that resulted in a rapid public health response. the exposure occurred while the animal was being transported for relocation to a wildlife refuge after being trapped in a plague enzootic area. this is the fir ... | 2018 | 29110441 |
| does the host matter? variable influence of host traits on parasitism rates. | parasitism of mammals is ubiquitous, but the processes driving parasite aggregation on hosts are poorly understood, as each system seems to show unique correlations between parasitism and host traits such as sex, age, size and body mass. genetic diversity is also posited to influence susceptibility to parasitism, and provides a quantifiable measure of an intrinsic unchanging host property, but this link has not been well established. a lack of consistency in host traits predicting parasite heter ... | 2018 | 28963001 |
| genetic divergence and morphological convergence in the prairie dogs. cynomys gunnisoni and cynomys leucurus ii. genetic analyses. | | 1976 | 28563049 |
| genetic divergence and morphological convergence in the prairie dogs, cynomys gunnisoni and cynomys leucurus i. morphological and ecological analyses. | | 1976 | 28563037 |
| dialects in the alarm calls of black- tailed prairie dogs (cynomys ludovicianus): a case of cultural diffusion? | prairie dogs (cynomys spp.) produce an alarm call when a predator appears. gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) produce calls that vary in spectral structure according to predator type and specific characteristics unique to the individual predator, such as color and shape. these calls vary depending on geographic location and have been characterized as dialects. black-tailed prairie dogs (cynomys ludovicianus) also encode information about terrestrial predators in their alarm calls. howev ... | 2020 | 32941980 |
| a novel retrovirus (gunnison's prairie dog retrovirus) associated with thymic lymphoma in gunnison's prairie dogs in colorado, usa. | as part of research and wildlife disease surveillance efforts, we performed necropsy examinations of 125 free-ranging (n = 114) and captive (n = 11) prairie dogs in colorado from 2009 to 2017. from these cases, we identified three cases of thymic lymphoma in free-ranging gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni), and we identified a novel retroviral sequence associated with these tumors. the viral sequence is 7700 nucleotides in length and exhibits a genetic organization that is consistent wit ... | 2020 | 32498297 |
| first genome sequence of the gunnison's prairie dog (cynomys gunnisoni), a keystone species and player in the transmission of sylvatic plague. | prairie dogs (genus cynomys) are a charismatic symbol of the american west. their large social aggregations and complex vocalizations have been the subject of scientific and popular interest for decades. a large body of literature has documented their role as keystone species of western north america's grasslands: they generate habitat for other vertebrates, increase nutrient availability for plants, and act as a food source for mammalian, squamate, and avian predators. an additional keystone ro ... | 2020 | 32277812 |
| differential plague susceptibility in species and populations of prairie dogs. | laboratory trials conducted over the past decade at u.s. geological survey national wildlife health center indicate that wild populations of prairie dogs (cynomys spp.) display different degrees of susceptibility to experimental challenge with fully virulent yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. we evaluated patterns in prairie dog susceptibility to plague to determine whether the historical occurrence of plague at location of capture was related to survival times of prairie dogs chall ... | 2019 | 31695901 |