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
Creature type (Dungeons & Dragons) animals despite their real-world bases being more closely related to vermin type creatures. Creatures deemed inconsequential by DMs or designers are not given any creature type at all, instead being treated as "set dressing" unless a specific game effect targets such non-creatures. Examples include actual-sized spiders, sparrows, fleas, worms, shellfish, and mice. "Swarm" type creatures are occasionally written to represent such otherwise nonthreatening creatures if they were to group together by some force of magic within the game world. Under the rules of D&D, animal type creatures do not have an Intelligence score higher than 2. When a designer makes