black-tailed prairie dog

noun

: a prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) of the plains of western North America with a black-tipped tail

In the areas that black-tailed prairie dogs call home, population densities per acre typically range from two individuals to as many as 18.

—Brendan Koerner, Slate, 13 Aug. 2004

These were black-tailed prairie dogs, the most social and widespread of the five species …

—Ted Williams, Mother Jones, January/February 2000

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1928, in the meaning defined above

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