Prairie dog and Clark in 1804. Lewis described it in more detail in 1806, calling it the "barking squirrel". On average, these stout-bodied rodents will grow to be between long, including the short tail, and weigh between . Sexual dimorphism in body mass in the prairie dog varies 105 to 136% between the sexes. Among the species, black-tailed prairie dogs tend to be the least sexually dimorphic, and white-tailed prairie dogs tend to be the most sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism peaks during weaning, when the females lose weight and the males start eating more, and is at its lowest when the females
Utah prairie dog to 1.13 kg in females. Utah prairie dogs show sexual dimorphism that males are 27% bigger than female, although the ratio varies by season. In 1952, Durant noted that Utah prairie dogs have larger in every aspect of skull than that of Gunnison's prairie dog. Utah prairie dogs prefer swale land area with abundant herbaceous plants. They build burrows on soils with adequate drain ability, and depth to protect themselves from predators and other environmental factors such as temperature. Utah prairie dogs are only found in the southern part of Utah; today they are only found in the central and