RODENTIA SCIURIJVAE CYNOMYS LUDOVICIANUS. 331 



CYNOMYS LUDOVICIANUS. 



Missouri Prairie Dog. 



Jlrctomys ludovicianus, ORD, Guthrie's Geog. 2d Am. Ed. II, 1815, 292, 302. 

 SAY, in Long's Exped. R. Mts. I, 1823, 451. 

 HARLAN, F. Am. 1825, 160. 

 GODMAN, Am. N. H. II, 114. 

 GRIFF. Cuv. Ill, 1827, 198. (Plate taken f om Lewis and Clark's specimen in Peale's 



Museum.) IB. V, 1827, 247. 



PRINCE MAX. Reise in das innere Nord-Amerika, I, 1839, 365. 

 WAGNER, Suppl. Schreber, III, 1843, 261. 

 Spermophilus ludovicianus, " LESSON, Manual, 244, 658." 



F. CDVIER, Suppl. Buffon, I, Mam. 1831,316 

 ACD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. II. 1851, 319 ; pi. xcix. 

 KENNICOTT, Rep. U. S. Pat. Off. Agricultural for 1856, (1857,) 81 ; pi. ix. 

 Cynomys socialis, RAFINESQUE, Am. Month. Mag. II, Nov. 1817, 45. 

 BRANTS, Muizen, 1827, 171, (from Raf.) 

 LESSON, Nouv. Tab, R. An. 1842, 115. 

 Cynomys grisea, RAFINESQUE, Am. Month. Mag. II, Nov. 1817, 45. 



BRANTS, Muizen, 1827, 172, (from Raf.) 

 Jlrctomys griseus, FISCHER, Synopsis, 1829, 345. 

 " Arctomys missouriensis, WARDEN, Desc. U. S. V. 1820, 627." 

 Jlrctomys latrans, HARI.AN, F. Am. 1825, 306. 

 Barking Squirrel, LEWIS and CLARK, II, 1815, 175. 



Size of fox squirrel, Sc. vulpinus, but heavier ; ears very short, not projecting above fur. Tail short, with the hairs, about 

 one third the length of body. Claws long, very stout ; the thumb of fore feet armed with a long claw instead of a flat nail. 

 Soles with a patch of hair. Color above reddish brown or cinnamon, with the tips of the hairs lighter and with scattered black 

 hairs interspersed ; beneath brownish white or yellow. In winter of a more grayish cast above. Hairs on the upper part lead 

 color at base, then pale cinnamon white to cinnamon. Tail like the back, its tip black, with the hairs light colored at base. 

 Length about 12 inches ; tail, with haiis, 4 ; hind foot about 2.25 inches. 



This species, in external form and terrestrial habits, approaches the true marmots, as it does 

 likewise in its internal structure. The cheek pouches are small and not easily detected, even 

 in a fresh specimen. The body is stout and clumsy, a woodchuck (Arctomys monax] in 

 miniature. The ears are very short, with scarcely any rim whatever, and this not projecting 

 beyond the short fur. The septum of the nose is naked ; the hairs elsewhere come almost into 

 the nostrils. The fore feet are large, and the thumb is armed with a strong claw as long and 

 stout as that on the fifth or exterior finger. The third finger is largest ; second and fourth 

 nearly equal, and the claw of the fifth does not reach to the base of the claw of the fourth. The 

 third toe is longest ; the fourth but little shorter ; the second reaches to the middle of the claw 

 of the third ; the fifth not to the base of that of the fourth ; nor the first to that of the fifth. 

 The palms are naked ; the soles nearly so, with the exception of a central patch under the base 

 of the metatarsus. The tail is short, usually about one-third the body, sometimes not more 

 than a fourth ; it is covered nearly uniformly everywhere (with but a moderate degree of flat 

 tening) with stiff hairs. 



The prevailing colors of this animal in summer are reddish, brown, almost a light chestnut 

 or cinnamon, turning gradually into brownish yellow on the sides, and lighter tint of the same 

 beneath, without any distinct line of demarcation anywhere. A closer examination above, 

 however, shows that the reddish brown is tipped with a paler tint of the same or of brownish 

 yellow, and that there are numerous black hairs interspersed. The hairs individually are very 



