. Distribution of mammals in Colorado. Mammals. 1972 ARMSTRONG: COLORADAN MAMMALS 139 those inhabited by Cynomys leucurus farther north. Cynomys gunnisoni is the smallest of Colo- radan prairie dogs. Superficially, Gunnison's prairie dog and the white-tailed prairie dog are similar, but they differ in average size, color, and cranial details, as well as in habitat preferences and details of social organization (see Lechleitner, 1969). Burnett and McCampell (1926a) discussed the natural history of the southwestern sub- species, C. g. zuniensis. Longhurst (1944) studied ecology of the nominate r
. Distribution of mammals in Colorado. Mammals. 1972 ARMSTRONG: COLORADAN MAMMALS 139 those inhabited by Cynomys leucurus farther north. Cynomys gunnisoni is the smallest of Colo- radan prairie dogs. Superficially, Gunnison's prairie dog and the white-tailed prairie dog are similar, but they differ in average size, color, and cranial details, as well as in habitat preferences and details of social organization (see Lechleitner, 1969). Burnett and McCampell (1926a) discussed the natural history of the southwestern sub- species, C. g. zuniensis. Longhurst (1944) studied ecology of the nominate race in the San Luis Valley. Scheffer (1947) compared the autecology of C. gunnisoni and C. ludo- vicianus. Variation in the breeding season with elevation in the vicinity of Norwood was discussed by Aldous (1935). About 1945, sylvatic plague became epi- zootic in South Park and populations of C. gunnisoni were seriously affected. Originally the plague had two foci, southeast of Hartsel and southwest of Fairplay. The epizootic spread across South Park in two years; in less than four years, prairie dogs were virtually eliminated from some 670,000 acres (Ecke and Johnson, 1950; Fitzgerald, 1969). Lechleitner et al. (1962), Kartman et al. (1962), and Lechleitner et al. (1968) discussed the epi- zootic in detail and provided a thorough re- view of the literature. Cynomys gunnisoni gunnisoni (Baird) Spermophilus gunnisoni Baird, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7:334, April 1855; type locality, Cochetopa Pass, Saguache Co., Colorado. Cynomys gunnisoni, Baird, Mammals, in Reports of explorations and surveys . . from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean . . , 8(1):335, 14 July 1858. Distribution in Colorado.—Mountain parks and valleys of west-central and south-central parts of state (Fig. 50). Comparison.—From C. g. zuniensis, the subspecies of extreme southwestern Colorado and adjacent areas, C. g. gunnisoni differs in smaller average external and cranial size and darker,
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