cynomys gunnisoni
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Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Ferenc Jordán ◽  
Bálint Kovács ◽  
Jennifer L. Verdolin

Abstract Increasingly we are discovering that the interactions between individuals within social groups can be quite complex and flexible. Social network analysis offers a toolkit to describe and quantify social structure, the patterns we observe, and evaluate the social and environmental factors that shape group dynamics. Here, we used 14 Gunnison’s prairie dogs networks to evaluate how resource availability and network size influenced four global properties of the networks (centralization, clustering, average path length, small word index). Our results suggest a positive correlation between overall network cohesion and resource availability, such that networks became less centralized and cliquish as biomass/m2 availability decreased. We also discovered that network size modulates the link between social interactions and resource availability and is consistent with a more ‘decentralized’ group. This study highlights the importance of how individuals modify social cohesions and network connectedness as a way to reduce intragroup competition under different ecological conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha M. Kagel ◽  
Rachel S. Ziejka ◽  
Lauren M.L. Averilla ◽  
Brittany A. Minnig ◽  
John L. Hoogland

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 606
Author(s):  
Molly D. Butler ◽  
Karen Griffin ◽  
Connie D. Brewster ◽  
Marylee L. Kapuscinski ◽  
Mark D. Stenglein ◽  
...  

As part of research and wildlife disease surveillance efforts, we performed necropsy examinations of 125 free-ranging (n = 114) and captive (n = 11) prairie dogs in Colorado from 2009 to 2017. From these cases, we identified three cases of thymic lymphoma in free-ranging Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni), and we identified a novel retroviral sequence associated with these tumors. The viral sequence is 7700 nucleotides in length and exhibits a genetic organization that is consistent with the characteristics of a type D betaretrovirus. The proposed name of this virus is Gunnison’s prairie dog retrovirus (GPDRV). We screened all 125 prairie dogs for the presence of GPDRV using PCR with envelope-specific primers and DNA extracted from spleen samples. Samples were from Gunnison’s prairie dogs (n = 59), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) (n = 40), and white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus) (n = 26). We identified GPDRV in a total of 7/125 (5.6%) samples including all three of the prairie dogs with thymic lymphoma, as well as spleen from an additional four Gunnison’s prairie dogs with no tumors recognized at necropsy. None of the GPDRV-negative Gunnison’s prairie dogs had thymic lymphomas. We also identified a related, apparently endogenous retroviral sequence in all prairie dog samples. These results suggest that GPDRV infection may lead to development of thymic lymphoma in Gunnison’s prairie dogs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 618-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirian T N Tsuchiya ◽  
Rebecca B Dikow ◽  
Loren Cassin-Sackett

Abstract Prairie dogs (genus Cynomys) are a charismatic symbol of the American West. Their large social aggregations and complex vocalizations have been the subject of scientific and popular interest for decades. A large body of literature has documented their role as keystone species of western North America’s grasslands: They generate habitat for other vertebrates, increase nutrient availability for plants, and act as a food source for mammalian, squamate, and avian predators. An additional keystone role lies in their extreme susceptibility to sylvatic plague (caused by Yersinia pestis), which results in periodic population extinctions, thereby generating spatiotemporal heterogeneity in both biotic communities and ecological processes. Here, we report the first Cynomys genome for a Gunnison’s prairie dog (C. gunnisoni gunnisoni) from Telluride, Colorado (USA). The genome was constructed using a hybrid assembly of PacBio and Illumina reads and assembled with MaSuRCA and PBJelly, which resulted in a scaffold N50 of 824 kb. Total genome size was 2.67 Gb, with 32.46% of the bases occurring in repeat regions. We recovered 94.9% (91% complete) of the single copy orthologs using the mammalian Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs database and detected 49,377 gene models (332,141 coding regions). Pairwise Sequentially Markovian Coalescent showed support for long-term stable population size followed by a steady decline beginning near the end of the Pleistocene, as well as a recent population reduction. The genome will aid in studies of mammalian evolution, disease resistance, and the genomic basis of life history traits in ground squirrels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 1092-1100
Author(s):  
W.J. Loughry ◽  
M. Oeser ◽  
J.L. Hoogland

Many animals emit vocalizations in a repetitive series, but are all the calls within a series structurally the same? To answer this question, we recorded the barks of adult female Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni (Baird, 1855)) during 5 min experimental presentations of several terrestrial stimuli. We measured eight variables (primarily pitch and duration measures) of the first, middle, and last barks in each bout of barking produced by each of 24 females, as well as the duration of inter-bout intervals, the number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout. We found that first barks were significantly longer and higher pitched than middle or last barks. Some of these differences were affected by the number of barks in a bout. Regardless of bark position, barks became longer and lower pitched in later bouts, and inter-bout intervals, number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout all declined in later bouts. Our results show that bark structure can vary even within a single context and within a short period of time. Thus, variation due to call position within and across bouts of calling is a potentially important confound for studies examining other sources of acoustic variation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Hoogland ◽  
Dean E. Biggins ◽  
Nathaniel Blackford ◽  
David A. Eads ◽  
Dustin Long ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. 117-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian M. Hirschler ◽  
Jennifer L. Gedert ◽  
Jessica Majors ◽  
Tucker Townsend ◽  
John L. Hoogland

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