Black-tailed prairie dog: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the black-tailed prairie dog lives – recorded in 3 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Cynomys ludovicianus
Group	Squirrels, chipmunks & marmots
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	3 countries
Continents	North America
Mass	15 g (birth weight)
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Sciuridae

Where does the black-tailed prairie dog live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the black-tailed prairie dog in 3 countries and territories across North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a black-tailed prairie dog?

Wikidata records the following for the black-tailed prairie dog: mass 15 g (birth weight).

Is the black-tailed prairie dog endangered?

The black-tailed prairie dog’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the black-tailed prairie dog?

The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Sciuridae, genus Cynomys. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the black-tailed prairie dog

The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae (the squirrels) found in the Great Plains of North America from about the United States–Canada border to the United States–Mexico border. Unlike some other prairie dogs, these animals do not truly hibernate. The black-tailed prairie dog can be seen above ground in midwinter. A black-tailed prairie dog town in Texas was reported to cover 25,000 mi2 (64,000 km2) and included 400,000,000 individuals. Prior to habitat destruction, the species may have been the most abundant prairie dog in central North America. It was one of two prairie dogs described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the journals and diaries of their expedition.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Black-tailed prairie dog (revision 1380122598), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q247142 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).