Evolution and Classification of the Pocket Gophers of the Subfamily GeomyinaeRussell, Robert J.
Science
Evolution and Classification of the Pocket Gophers of the Subfamily Geomyinae
Russell, Robert J.
Pocket gophers
Mooser (1959:413) identified as _Geomys_ the pocket gopher from
Irvingtonian deposits in Arroyo San Francisco (loc. no. 5) near the
city of Aguascalientes, México. As suggested elsewhere in this
account, these fossils may be referable to _Zygogeomys_ rather
than _Geomys_. The Irvingtonian provincial age of this fauna was
established by Hibbard and Mooser (1963:245-250). Other alleged
occurrences have recently been compiled by Alvarez (1965:19-20).
Maldonado-Koerdell (1948:20) noted four fossil occurrences of the
genus _Geomys_ in México. Two of these from San Josecito Cave in
Nuevo León have since been identified with the genera _Orthogeomys_
and _Pappogeomys_ (Russell, 1960:543-548); the third listed by
Maldonado-Koerdell from "near Ameca, Jalisco," was based on Brown's
(1912:167) mention of some bones supposedly of the family "Geomyidae,"
and the fourth refers to pocket gopher remains from the "Hochtals von
Mexiko" listed as _Geomys_ by Freudenberg (1921:139). His generic
identification is doubtful and the specimens should be compared with
Mexican genera of the Geomyinae.
Upper Pleistocene records of _Geomys_ also are common. Upper
Pleistocene is here understood to include late Illinoian,
Sangamon and Wisconsin deposits; all are considered to be of
Rancholabrean provincial age (see Hibbard _et al._, 1965:512-515) and
post-Irvingtonian. The presence of remains of _Bison_ and/or _Microtus
pennsylvanicus_ are currently considered mammalian index fossils of
Rancholabrean faunas. In the Illinoian, _Geomys_ extended its range to
the Atlantic Coast in the southeastern United States. The eastern and
western species-groups evidently were isolated throughout much of the
late Pleistocene, and, therefore, evolved separately. Of the two, the
eastern, or _pinetis_, species-group seems to have remained somewhat
more generalized, and the western, or _bursarius_, species-group has
become more specialized. The Rancholabrean _Geomys_ from deposits in
the southeastern United States are referable (see Ray, 1963:325) to
_Geomys pinetis_.
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