Evidence for color vision in the prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Vision in the prairie dog: Spectral sensitivity and color vision.

“…There remains a discrepancy between the results of this study and the other investigation of color vision in the prairie dog (Cain & Carlsen, 1968). The animals tested in this latter study were able to successfully discriminate between several pairs of test wavelengths, including several pairs in which both test stimuli were located far to one side of the neutral point (e.g., 612 nm.…”

“…The eye of the prairie dog (Cynomys) has many of the features generally associated with the all-cone adaptation (Jacobs & Yolton, 1972;Walls, 1941). The only available behavioral information on vision in the prairie dog appears in a recent study by Cain and Carlsen (1968), who found that prairie dogs were capable of successfully discriminating between various pairs of colored lights under conditions which strongly suggest the presence of some form of color vision. The experiments reported here were conducted to permit an adequate characterization of both spectral sensitivity and color vision in the prairie dog.…”

Wisconsin General Test Apparatus

“…1 Wisconsin general test apparatus. From Harlow (1949), p. 52 Although originally developed for use with monkeys, the WGTA has been modified as needed for use with a wide array of organisms, including pigeons (e.g., Millar and Malott 1968), raccoons (Michels et al 1960), cats (e.g., Warren 1980), dogs and wolves (Ebel and Werboff 1967;Frank et al 1989), rabbits (Livesey 1965), prairie dogs (Cain and Carlson 1968), gerbils (Blass and Rollin 1969;King et al 1968), rats (Valle 1971), chimpanzees (Rumbaugh et al 1987), a variety of small primates (Pournelle and Rumbaugh 1965), and human childrenwith and without developmental disabilities (e.g., Graff and Green 2004;Levinson and Reese 1967;Orlando et al 1960;Olson et al 1966;Weisberg and Simmons 1966).…”

Using Off-the-Shelf Technologies to Mass Manufacture Oral Vaccine Baits for Wildlife

“…We ultimately effected the desired change by increasing relative water content and allowing ample time for matrix saturation (Table 1 and Supplementary Table S1). We also substituted FD&C Blue #1 food dye for the rhodamine B biomarker (Fernandez and Rocke 2011) to decrease bait size, maintain palatability, and enhance attractiveness to prairie dogs (Cain and Carlson 1968). This change sacrificed ability to biomark individuals consuming baits.…”