Prairie dog itself more noticeable to the predator. Predators, though, seem to have difficulty determining which prairie dog is making the call due to its "ventriloquistic" nature. Perhaps the most striking of prairie dog communications is the territorial call or "jump-yip" display of the black-tailed prairie dog. A black-tailed prairie dog will stretch the length of its body vertically and throw its forefeet into the air while making a call. A jump-yip from one prairie dog causes others nearby to do the same. Ecologists consider this rodent to be a keystone species. They are an important prey species, being the primary diet
Prairie dog a few eastern locales. Despite the name, they are not actually canines. Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark. The name was in use at least as early as 1774. The 1804 journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition note that in September 1804, they "discovered a Village of an animal the French Call the Prairie Dog". Its genus, "Cynomys", derives from the Greek for "dog mouse" (κυων "kuōn", κυνος "kunos" – dog; μυς "mus", μυός "muos" – mouse). The black-tailed prairie dog ("Cynomys ludovicianus") was first described by Lewis