Prairie Dogs Flashcards
Cynomys ludovicianus - Black-tailed prairie dog
How many species of prairie dogs are there? What is the most common species in research?
- Cynomys ludovicianus
How much do black-tailed prairie dogs weigh?
0.7-1.4 kg
Where do wild prairie dogs live?
Open plains and plateaus on the Great Plains to extreme northern Mexico.
Why was there a ban on prairie dog buying, selling, and trading? When was it lifted?
Monkeypox transmission to humans, due to co-housing with imported Gambian pouched rats. Ban in effect from 2003-2008.
Describe wild prairie dog social structure.
Large colonies, or towns, consisting of wards, which are made up of coteries. Each coterie contains an average of 8.5 individuals, usually a single adult male, 3-4 adult females, and several 1-2 year old juveniles. Members of the coterie are socially integrated and display territorial defense towards outsiders.
What has Cynomys ludovicianus historically been used to study? More recently?
Biliary physiology and the pathophysiology of gallstone formation. More recently in infectious diseases, including monkeypox, Yersinia, and Francisella.
Why were prairie dogs used to study smallpox (Orthopox variola)?
Susceptibility to orthopox monkeypox, but infected animals did not develop signs, but did seroconvert.
When are prairie dogs active?
Diurnal
Do prairie dogs hibernate?
Become dormant during severe weather but do not hibernate.
Are prairie dogs social?
Very social and reinforce their relationships within a coterie by nuzzling, grooming, playing, and vocal communication.
Describe prairie dog reproducion?
Monestrous in the wild and do not start breeding until 2 years of age. Mating in spring, with a 32-37 day gestation. Each coterie is a cooperative breeding unit in which breeding occurs at the same time and each adult female produces a litter/year. Lactating females will kill offspring of close kin.
Describe prairie dog hearing.
Good low frequency hearing (as low as 4 Hz) and more sensitive than other rodents at frequencies below 63 Hz. Insensitive in the midrange and have poor high-frequency hearing.
What do prairie dogs eat in the wild?
Herbs and grasses. Maintain a rotating pasture that causes fast-growing plants to predominate.
What clinical signs did prairie dogs show in the 2003 outbreak of monkeypox virus? How was the disease transmitted to humans?
Fibronecrotizing bronchopneumonia, enteritis, and lymphadenopathy, sometimes with pulmonary vasculitis. Intracytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusion bodies.
Transmission via mucocutaneous and respiratory routes.
Describe tularemia in prairie dogs.
Caused by Francisella tularensis, occurs sporadically in wild animals.
Necropsy: Scattered, white pinpoint hepatosplenic lesions and massive, purulent bronchopneumonia.
Clinical: Sudden death or nonspecific signs of systemic illness with hepatic or resp. involvement.
Spread via mucous membranes, biting insects, or needlesticks, or resp. transmission.
Necropsy under BSL3 conditions, animal housing and handling of diagnostic material under BSL2.
What epizootic agent are wild prairie dogs highly susceptible to? How does it spread?
Yersinia pestis, or plague. Transmission via direct contact, inhalation of aerosolized droplets, or flea bites.
What disease can be induced in prairie dogs via administration of the cephalosporin antibiotic cefoxitin?
Clostridium difficile typhlocolitis
What intestinal parasite is common in prairie dogs? What other rodent species is it cross-reactive with?
Eimeria, cross-reactive with ground squirrels
What are the two most-reported spontaneous neoplasms in prairie dogs?
Hepatocellular carcinoma and elondontoma.
Describe elondontomas.
Hamartomas (benign malformations) of abnormal odontogenic epithelium and alveolar bone at the apex of the maxillary incisors. Commonly cause upper resp obstruction as they expand into the nasal cavity.
What is a common condition in captive prairie dogs, but not wild or zoo prairie dogs?
Respiratory disease, either independent or in association with elondontomas.
