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
M1 and M2, like the lower molars, are elliptical in cross-section.
Complete enamel plates on the anterior and posterior surfaces are
separated by tracts of dentine on the sides of each tooth. M3 is
usually suborbicular (sometimes subtriangular) in cross-section. The
tooth is not especially elongated posteriorly and usually has no
definite heel; therefore, it is not significantly longer than wide.
Living species of _Geomys_ rarely have a well defined outer re-entrant
fold on M3; less than 10 per cent of the individuals (and usually only
one side in each individual in which it occurs) have it, although a
shallow inconspicuous groove occurs more frequently. The biprismatic
molar characteristic of the ancestral morphotype is less often found
in _Geomys_ than in any other living member of the tribe Geomyini. The
outer re-entrant fold and biprismatic pattern are more often present
in the extinct species _Geomys garbanii_ of the Middle Pleistocene
than in other species. Less than 24 per cent of the third upper molars
in _Geomys garbanii_ lack a tract of the re-entrant fold and more than
38 per cent have a well developed outer fold (see White and Downs,
1961:13, 18). The bicolumnar pattern, although incomplete, would be
clearly evident in those teeth having a well marked re-entrant fold;
the pattern occurs less frequently in those teeth with no fold or only
a slight one. M3 of geomyids is not usually recovered and, therefore,
the occlusal pattern of M3 is unknown in most extinct kinds of
_Geomys_. In Recent _Geomys_ the fold is more common in the eastern
_pinetis_ species-group than in the western _bursarius_ species-group.
The masseteric ridge on the outer side of the mandible is well
developed in all species of the genus. The position of the mental
foramen relative to the anterior part of the ridge varies with
individuals and according to species. The basitemporal fossa is always
present, but is shallower in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene species
than in Recent species. The angular process is short.
_Referred species._--The twelve species, five of which are extinct,
are as follows:
_quinni_ species-group
*_Geomys quinni_ McGrew, 1944. Geol. Ser., Field Mus. Nat. Hist.,
9 (546):49, January 20. Type from Sand Draw local fauna (late
Pliocene), Brown County, Nebraska; also known from
Broadwater-Lisco local faunas (early Pleistocene), Morrill and
Garden counties, Nebraska, Deer Park local fauna (early
Pleistocene), Meade County, Kansas.
*_Geomys paenebursarius_ Strain, 1966. Bull. Texas Memorial Mus.,
10:36. Type from Hudspeth local fauna (early Pleistocene),
Hudspeth County, Texas.
*_Geomys tobinensis_ Hibbard, 1944. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer.,
55:736. Type from Tobin local fauna (middle Pleistocene),
Russell County, Kansas; also known from Cudahy local fauna
(middle Pleistocene), Meade County, Kansas.
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