52 MAMMALS OF UTAH 



WHITE-TAILEDPRAIRIE-DOG 



CYNOMYS LEUCURUS (Merriam) 



Cynomys columbianus Allen, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 XVI, p. 294 (part; not Arctomys columbianus Ord. 1815). 



1874. 



Cynomys leucurus Merriam,- North Amer. Fauna No. 3, p. 59, 

 September 11 ; North Amer. Fauna No' 4, p. 33, October 8, 

 1890. 



Cynomys lewisii Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. X, p. 456, 

 November 10, (not Arctomys lewisii Audubon and Bach- 

 man, 1854) 1898. 



Cynomys lewisi Trouessart, Cat. Mamm., suppl., p. 342. 1904. 



Description — Adult in fresh summer pelage: General 

 color of upper parts yellowish buff, streaked with blackish. 

 Nose yellowish buff, unmarked; spot above eye and large 

 area on cheek dark blackish brown ; ears pale cinnamon. Top 

 of head to center of tail uniformly mixed pale cinnamon-buff 

 or yellowish buff and blackish ; the individual hairs black at 

 bases, then light gray, then pale cinnamon, with subterminal 

 band of buff and, in unworn condition, tip of blackish. Limbs, 

 feet, and underparts clear buf f y ; nails blackish, tipped with 

 light horn. Tail white, the hairs of proximal half above with 

 bands of blackish, below pale cinnamon; distal half clear 

 white. Adult in fresh winter pelage : Decidedly darker than 

 in summer ; more blackish above, especially posteriorly ; the 

 buff tints richer in tone and the dark areas on head consid- 

 erably spread out, less sharply defined. There is a heavy 

 underf ur of grayish white, but the bases of all the hairs are 

 clear black ; sides of nose, chin, and throat white ; nape and 

 flanks lighter, more grayish, than back and rump. Juvenile 

 pelage : Above grayish brown ; below paler grayish ; supra- 

 orbital spot of brownish black sharply marked. Post juvenile 

 pelage : Specimens in first fresh autumnal coat darker than 

 adults, more reddish, and hairs of upper parts more heavily 

 tipped with blackish. Adults in the faded, left-over winter 

 coat are often very yellowish above, with little or no black 

 streaking from the hair tips. Many specimens in various 

 stages of molt and renewal present strange combinations 

 of color. Examples deeply stained by color from the soil are 

 frequently noted. (Hollister.) 



Distribution — Irregular areas in the mountainous parts 

 of Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. In this state it 

 occurs mostly in the extreme northern part and in the Green 

 River Valley. Specimens have been taken in the Uinta 

 mountains and in the Uncompahgre Indian reservation. 



