Utah prairie dog Utah prairie dog The Utah prairie dog ("Cynomys parvidens") is the smallest species of prairie dog, a member of the squirrel family of rodents native to the south central steppes of the US state of Utah. The fur is multicolor, which consists of black, brown, and dark brown at the tip. Face have dark brown cheeks and whitish tone of chins and mouth. The total body length of typical adult ranges from 30.5 cm to 36.0 cm with 3 cm to 6 cm of tail. Adult prairie dogs weigh about 0.77 kg to 1.41 kg in males, and 0.64 kg
Black-tailed prairie dog activities keep plant development in a suppressed vegetative state with higher nutritional qualities, herbivores, including red deer ("Cervus elaphus"), American bison, pronghorn ("Antilocapra americana"), and domestic cattle often prefer foraging in black-tailed prairie dog colonies. Animals that depend on herbaceous cover in sagebrush habitat, such as mule deer ("Odocoileus hemionus") and sage grouse ("Centrocercus" spp.), may be deterred by the decreased vegetative cover on black-tailed prairie dog colonies. For a list of vertebrate species associated with black-tailed prairie dog colonies, see. Biodiversity in shortgrass prairies may be at risk due to the reductions in distribution and occurrence of black-tailed prairie