Editing Prairie dog (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Prairie Dog Washington DC 1.jpg|thumb|right|Prairie dogs raise their heads from their burrows in response to disturbances.]]
Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark. The name was in use at least as early as 1774.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=prairie ''prairie'']. Online Etymology Dictionary</ref> The 1804 journals of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] note that in September 1804, they "discovered a Village of an animal the French Call the Prairie Dog".<ref name="sept7">{{cite web |url=http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/examples/servlet/transform/tamino/Library/lewisandclarkjournals?&_xmlsrc=http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/lewisandclark/files/xml/1804-09-07.xml&_xslsrc=http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/lewisandclark/LCstyles.xsl |title=Journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition, "7th September Friday 1804. a verry Cold morning" |publisher=Libtextcenter.unl.edu |access-date=2009-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201055321/http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/examples/servlet/transform/tamino/Library/lewisandclarkjournals?&_xmlsrc=http%3A%2F%2Flibtextcenter.unl.edu%2Flewisandclark%2Ffiles%2Fxml%2F1804-09-07.xml&_xslsrc=http%3A%2F%2Flibtextcenter.unl.edu%2Flewisandclark%2FLCstyles.xsl |archive-date=1 February 2009 }}</ref> Its genus, ''Cynomys'', derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] for "dog mouse" (κυων ''kuōn'', κυνος ''kunos'' – dog; μυς ''mus'', μυός ''muos'' – mouse).<ref>{{cite journal | last=Palmer| first=T.S. | title= Index Generum Mammalium: a List of the Genera and Families of Mammals|url = https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700949/m2/1/high_res_d/nafa.23.0001.pdf| year=1904 |journal=North American Fauna | volume=23| page=212| doi=10.3996/nafa.23.0001 | doi-access=free}}</ref>

The prairie dog is known by several indigenous names. The name ''wishtonwish'' was recorded by Lt. [[Zebulon Pike]] while on the [[Arkansas River|Arkansas]] two years after Lewis and Clark's expedition.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lewis and Clark, Pioneering Naturalists|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1989|first1=Paul Russell|last1=Cutright|author-link=Paul Russell Cutright|page=80|isbn=0-8032-6434-8}}</ref> In [[Lakota language|Lakota]], the word is ''pispíza'' or ''pìspíza''.<ref>{{cite book|title=English-Lakota Dictionary|first=Bruce|last=Ingham|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|page=188}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Everyday Lakota: An English-Sioux Dictionary for Beginners|publisher=Rosebud Educational Society|year=1974|first1=Joseph S.|last1=Karol|first2=Stephen L. |last2=Rozman|page=55}}</ref>