Black-tailed prairie dogs at Roberts Prairie Dog Town, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States

Life hidden beneath the prairie. Black-tailed prairie dogs in Badlands National Park, United States

Across the stark stretches of South Dakota prairie, Badlands National Park is a landscape shaped by wind, water and time. Its layered rocks form ridges, buttes and gullies where erosion reveals fossils that trace millions of years of Earth's story. Between these sculpted formations lies a different kind of architecture—an underground world built by black-tailed prairie dogs. Beneath the grass, their tunnels link generations, shaping the land as surely as wind and rain do.

The prairie hums with life: bison roam the open range, bighorn sheep climb steep bluffs and prairie dogs build underground, colonies known as 'towns,' that spread out beneath the grass. Roberts Prairie Dog Town, where today's image was captured, is the park's largest accessible colony, supporting nearly 200 plant and animal species. Once labelled pests, prairie dogs are now recognised as keystone species, as they give rise to soil aeration and plant diversity. Their quiet work keeps the prairie alive; the land constantly shaping and reshaping itself through the lives that inhabit it. The Badlands endures not just as a rugged formation, but as a living and breathing prairie.