The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah: University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Vol. 1 No. 1Durrant, Stephen David
Science
The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah: University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Vol. 1 No. 1
Durrant, Stephen David
Pocket gophers -- Utah
_T. b. bonnevillei_ is indistinguishable in color from _Thomomys bottae
convexus_, but differs from it in the following features: Size larger
in nearly every measurement taken. Skull: Flattened dorsally as opposed
to convex; zygomatic arches longer and weaker; jugals more nearly
perpendicular; tympanic bullae larger; upper incisors longer; alveolar
length of upper molar series the same, but molars narrower; rostrum
longer but nasals shorter; extension of premaxillae posterior to nasals
greater.
Topotypes of _bonnevillei_ can be distinguished from those of both
_Thomomys bottae tivius_ and _stansburyi_ by being larger in every
measurement taken, by markedly lighter color throughout, and by ridged,
massive, angular skulls rather than smooth, weak, nonangular skulls.
The races closest geographically to _bonnevillei_ are _Thomomys bottae
robustus_ and _T. b. sevieri_. Compared with topotypes of _robustus_,
_bonnevillei_ differs in: Size larger. Color: Lighter throughout.
Skull: Larger, although not as compact; zygomatic arches more widely
spreading; jugals lighter; lacrimal processes not as prominent;
zygomatic processes of maxillae not as robust; nasals more flared
distally; extension of premaxillae posterior to nasals greater;
alveolar length of upper molar series longer; molars larger; upper
incisors longer, wider and darker in color; when placed ventral side
down on a surface, the dorsal face of a skull of _robustus_ is
approximately parallel to the surface, whereas one of _bonnevillei_
dips down in the occipital region.
_T. b. sevieri_ can be easily distinguished from _bonnevillei_ by being
smaller in every measurement taken, darker in color, and by small,
weak, smooth skulls as opposed to large, robust, ridged skulls.
_Remarks._--Fish Springs, where _bonnevillei_ occurs is a marshy area
south of the barren, salt-desert country of western Utah. The source of
water is springs at the base of the north end of the Fish Springs
Mountains. Only the moist area supports pocket gophers. Specimens from
Trout Creek, Juab County, twenty-five miles to the southwest are
intergrades between _bonnevillei_ and _aureiventris_, and are referred
to the latter subspecies. The country between Fish Springs and Trout
Creek in 1937 and 1940 lacked pocket gophers; it was of the playa and
sand type. Probably _T. b. bonnevillei_ was derived from _T. b.
aureiventris_, a western mainland form of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville,
through isolation and subsequent differentiation morphologically. The
moist soils at Cane Springs, seven miles south of Fish Springs, had no
pocket gophers when visited in 1940.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 11, from the type locality.
=Thomomys bottae centralis= Hall
_Thomomys perpallidus centralis_ Hall, Univ. California
Publ. Zooel., 32:445, July 8, 1930.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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