White-tailed Prairie Dog

Open encyclopedia reference

The white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) is found in western Wyoming and western Colorado with small areas in eastern Utah and southern Montana. The largest populations are in Wyoming where they are known colloquially as "chiselers". This prairie dog species lives at an elevation between 5,000 and 10,000 feet (1,500 and 3,000 m), generally a higher elevation than other prairie dog species. Its predators include black-footed ferrets, badgers, and golden eagles.

Wikipedia contributors, White-tailed prairie dog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:48:23.973143+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) leucurus Merriam, 1890

Name authority

Merriam, 1890

Common name

White-tailed Prairie Dog

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Sciuridae

Genus

Cynomys

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
13. familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
14. subfamilyXerinae Osborn, 1910
15. tribeMarmotini Pocock, 1923
16. genusCynomys Rafinesque, 1817
17. subgenusLeucocrossuromys Hollister, 1916
18. speciesCynomys (Leucocrossuromys) leucurus Merriam, 1890

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Cynomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 219 records assigned to Sciuridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180185 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6C89G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.