How big does a White-tailed prairie dog get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown White-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) reaches an average size of 30.7 cm (1′ 1″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 964 grams (2.13 lbs). Talking about reproduction, White-tailed prairie dogs have 5 babies about 1 times per year. The White-tailed prairie dog (genus: Cynomys) is a member of the family Sciuridae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) is found in western Wyoming and western Colorado with small areas in eastern Utah and southern Montana. The largest populations are in Wyoming where they are known colloquially as “chiselers”. This prairie dog species lives at an elevation between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, generally a higher elevation than other prairie dog species. Its predators include black-footed ferrets, badgers, and golden eagles.
Animals of the same family as a White-tailed prairie dog
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Durango chipmunk with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Red squirrel with a size of 21.3 cm (0′ 9″)
- Nilgiri striped squirrel with 2 babies per litter
- Horse-tailed squirrel with a size of 22.8 cm (0′ 9″)
- Arctic ground squirrel with a size of 27.9 cm (0′ 11″)
- Sierra Madre ground squirrel with a size of 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Busuanga squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- San Joaquin antelope squirrel with a size of 16.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Jentink’s flying squirrel with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Little ground squirrel with 7 babies per litter
Animals with the same size as a White-tailed prairie dog
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as White-tailed prairie dog:
- Western white-eared giant rat with a size of 31 cm (1′ 1″)
- Eastern bettong with a size of 33.1 cm (1′ 2″)
- Muskrat with a size of 27.7 cm (0′ 11″)
- Red-bellied titi with a size of 35.8 cm (1′ 3″)
- Rakali with a size of 27.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Grandidier’s mongoose with a size of 35.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Giant Atlantic tree-rat with a size of 28.1 cm (1′ 0″)
- Ring-tailed vontsira with a size of 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- Brown-eared woolly opossum with a size of 27.3 cm (0′ 11″)
- European mink with a size of 36.1 cm (1′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a White-tailed prairie dog
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a White-tailed prairie dog:
- Eastern quoll
- Least weasel
- Long-tailed dwarf hamster
- Small vesper mouse
- Water vole (North America)
- Northern red-backed vole
- Fringe-tailed gerbil
- Gray marmot
- Long-tailed pocket mouse
- Northern grass mouse
Animals with the same weight as a White-tailed prairie dog
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Cynomys leucurus:
- Peruvian night monkey bringing 800 grams to the scale
- Plush-coated ringtail possum with a weight of 1.12 kilos (2.47 lbs)
- Desert cottontail bringing 882 grams to the scale
- Aotus infulatus bringing 800 grams to the scale
- Spotted giant flying squirrel with a weight of 1.04 kilos (2.29 lbs)
- Spotted linsang with a weight of 1.14 kilos (2.51 lbs)
- Travancore flying squirrel bringing 794 grams to the scale
- Sunda flying lemur with a weight of 1.11 kilos (2.45 lbs)
- Green acouchi bringing 966 grams to the scale
- Ring-tailed cat with a weight of 1.02 kilos (2.25 lbs)