Prairie Dog
Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing Marmotini, ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. There are five recognized species of prairie dog: black-tailed prairie dog, black-tailed, white-tailed prairie dog, white-tailed, Gunnison's prairie dog, Gunnison's, Utah prairie dog, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, prairie dogs are found primarily in the northern states, which lie at the southern end of the Great Plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas. In the United States, they range primarily to the west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales. They are also found in the Canadian Prairies. Despite the name, they are not actually Canidae, canines; prairie dogs, along with the marmots, chipmunks, and several other Basal (phylogenetics), basal genera belong to the ground squirrels (Tribe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gunnison's Prairie Dog
Gunnison's prairie dog (''Cynomys gunnisoni'') is one of five species of prairie dog. This species belongs to the squirrel family of rodents, and are predominantly related to the North American and Eurasian ground squirrels. Gunnison's prairie dogs are primarily distributed in the Four Corners region of the United States. Description Gunnison's prairie dogs are in length and have tails that measure . This species weighs from . On average, males are larger in size than females. Gunnison's prairie dogs have 22 teeth and five pairs of mammary glands. The Gunnison's prairie dog, ''C. gunnisoni'', is the only prairie dog species that has 40 chromosomes. The other four species — black-tailed, white-tailed, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs — have 50 chromosomes. Their coats are yellow-toned buff merged with black-colored hairs. The upper head, sides of the cheek, and eyebrows are distinctly darker than the rest of the body. Their tails are mostly white with grayish-white ends, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mexican Prairie Dog
The Mexican prairie dog (''Cynomys mexicanus'') is a diurnal burrowing rodent native to north-central Mexico. It is classified as a keystone species due to its large impact on other species and the environment. Treatment as an agricultural pest has led to its status as an endangered species. They are closely related to squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots. ''Cynomys mexicanus'' originated about 230,000 years ago from a peripherally isolated population of the more widespread '' Cynomys ludovicianus''. Ecology Mexican prairie dogs acquire all of their water from plants. Although they are mainly herbivores, they have been known to eat insects. Predators include bobcats, foxes, eagles, hawks, snakes, and weasels. Mexican prairie dogs live in excavated colonies, referred to as "towns", which they dig for shelter and protection. A typical town has a funnel-like entrance that slants down into a corridor up to long, with side chambers for storage and nesting. It has been found that s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale million years ago (Ma). It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic, Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch. Prior to the 2009 revision of the geologic time scale, which placed the four most recent major glaciations entirely within the Pleistocene, the Pliocene also included the Gelasian Stage, which lasted from 2.59 to 1.81 Ma, and is now included in the Pleistocene. As with other older geologic periods, the Stratum, geological strata that define the start and end are well-identified but the exact dates of the start a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 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. Description Black-tailed prairie dogs are generally tan in color, with lighter-colored bellies. They may have color variation in their pelt, such as dark fur on their back in black and brown tones. Their tails have black tips, from which their name is derived. Adults can weigh from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: ''Tamias'', of which the eastern chipmunk (''T. striatus'') is the only living member; ''Eutamias'', of which the Siberian chipmunk (''E. sibiricus'') is the only living member; ''Nototamias'', which consists of three extinct species, and ''Neotamias'', which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western North American, species. These classifications were treated as subgenera due to the chipmunks' morphological similarities. As a result, most taxonomies over the twentieth century have placed the chipmunks into a single genus. Joseph C. Moore reclassified chipmunks to form a subtribe Tamiina in a 1959 study, and this classification has been supported by studies of mitochondrial DNA. The common name originally may have been spelled "chitmunk", fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, when they hibernate underground. They are the heaviest members of the squirrel family. Description Marmots are large rodents with characteristically short but robust legs, enlarged claws which are well adapted to digging, stout bodies, and large heads and incisors to quickly process a variety of vegetation. While most species are various forms of earthen-hued brown, marmots vary in fur coloration based roughly on their surroundings. Species in more open habitat are more likely to have a paler color, while those sometimes found in well-forested regions tend to be darker. Total length varies typically from about and body mass averages about in spring in the smaller species and in autumn, at times exceeding , in the larger species. The lar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Canidae
Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a family (biology), biological family of caniform carnivorans, constituting a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). The family includes three subfamily, subfamilies: the Caninae, and the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae are known as canines, and include Dog, domestic dogs, Wolf, wolves, coyotes, raccoon dogs, Fox, foxes, jackals and other species. Canids are found on all continents except Antarctica, having arrived independently or accompanied by Human, human beings over extended periods of time. Canids vary in size from the gray wolf to the fennec fox. The body forms of canids are similar, typically having long muzzles, upright ears, teeth adapted for cracking bones and slicing flesh, long legs, and bushy tails. They are mostly social animals, living together in family units or small groups and behaving co-operatively. Typically, only the dominant pair in a group breeds and a litter of young ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provinces are partially covered by grasslands, plains, and Upland and lowland#Lowland, lowlands, mostly in the southern regions. The northernmost reaches of the Canadian Prairies are less dense in population, marked by forests and more variable topography. If the region is defined to include areas only covered by prairie land, the corresponding region is known as the Interior Plains. Physical or ecological aspects of the Canadian Prairies extend to northeastern British Columbia, but that area is not included in political use of the term. The prairies in Canada are a biome of Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, temperate grassland and shrubland within the prairie ecoregion of Canada that consists of Canadian Aspen Forests and Parkland ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's Drainage basin, watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky Mountains, Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian mountains. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is , of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the world's List of rivers by discharge, tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in northeast Mexico and is bordered by the states of Nuevo León to the west, San Luis Potosí to the southwest, and Veracruz to the southeast. To the north, it has a stretch of the U.S.–Mexico border with the state of Texas, and to the east it is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the capital city, Ciudad Victoria, the state's largest cities include Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Tampico, and Mante. Etymology The name Tamaulipas is derived from ''Tamaholipa'', a Huastec term in which the ''tam-'' prefix signifies "place (where)". No scholarly agreement exists on the meaning of ''holipa'', but "high hills" is a common interpretation. Another explanation of the state name is that it is derived from ''Ta ma ho'lipam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nuevo León
Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosi, and has an extremely narrow international border with the U.S. state of Texas. Covering 64,156 square kilometers (24,771 square miles) and with a population of 5.78 million people, Nuevo León is the thirteenth-largest Political divisions of mexico, federal entity by List of Mexican states by area, area and the seventh-most List of Mexican states by population, populous as of 2020. Monterrey, the state's capital, is the most populous city in Nuevo León and the List of cities in Mexico, ninth-largest in Mexico. Monterrey is part of the Monterrey metropolitan area, the Metropolitan areas of Mexico#List of metropolitan areas in Mexico by population, second-largest metropolitan area in the country with an estimated population of 5.3 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the third largest is Monclova (a former state capital); the fourth largest is Piedras Negras; and the fifth largest is Ciudad Acuña. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of Nuevo León to the east, Zacatecas to the south, and Durango and Chihuahua to the west. To the north, Coahuila accounts for a stretch of the Mexico–United States border, adjacent to the U.S. state of Texas along the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte). With an area of , it is the nation's third-largest state. It comprises 38 municipalities ''(Municipio (Mexico), municipios)''. In the 2020 Census, Coahuila had a population of 3,146,771. History The name Coahuila derives from native terms for the region, and has been known by variations such as Cuagüila and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |