The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah: University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Vol. 1 No. 1 — John Shaqi
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
1. _T. t. gracilis_
2. _T. t. wasatchensis_
3. _T. t. oquirrhensis_
4. _T. t. uinta_
5. _T. t. pygmaeus_
6. _T. t. ravus_
7. _T. t. ocius_
8. _T. t. moorei_
9. _T. t. fossor_
10. _T. t. parowanensis_
11. _T. t. levis_
12. _T. b. aureiventris_
13. _T. b. robustus_
14. _T. b. minimus_
15. _T. b. nesophilus_
16. _T. b. stansburyi_
17. _T. b. albicaudatus_
18. _T. b. bonnevillei_
19. _T. b. centralis_
20. _T. b. sevieri_
21. _T. b. convexus_
22. _T. b. tivius_
23. _T. b. contractus_
24. _T. b. lenis_
25. _T. b. levidensis_
26. _T. b. osgoodi_
27. _T. b. howelli_
28. _T. b. wahwahensis_
29. _T. b. dissimilis_
30. _T. b. aureus_
31. _T. b. birdseyei_
32. _T. b. virgineus_
33. _T. b. planirostris_
34. _T. b. absonus_
35. _T. b. alexandrae_
GENUS =Thomomys= Wied
All pocket gophers of Utah belong to the genus _Thomomys_. There are
only two species within the state, _Thomomys bottae_ with twenty-four
subspecies and _Thomomys talpoides_ with eleven subspecies.
Due to marked mutational capacities and ready response to environmental
pressures and sedentary habits, pocket gophers differentiate readily
into numerous subspecies. It is well known that Utah by its highly
varied topography and climate possesses widely different types of
habitats. The aforementioned plasticity of these animals and possibly
the fact that both species are at the extreme limits of their ranges in
Utah account for the numerous forms found within the state.
The genus may be characterized as follows: Highly specialized fossorial
rodents, with heavy, thick bodies; all four legs of approximately equal
length, but front legs more muscular for digging, and feet provided
with long claws; external fur-lined cheek pouches; small eyes, short
ears and tail; upper incisors long and projecting external to lips.
Skull: Stout and flattened; zygomatic arches well developed and usually
widely spreading; all teeth with permanent pulp cavities; incisors
superficially smooth, but fine median groove present on anterior face
of each upper incisor; dental formula, i. 1/1, c. 0/0, p. 1/1, m. 3/3;
external auditory canal long; stapedial artery small and enclosed
within an osseous canal.
=Thomomys talpoides= (Richardson)
_Thomomys talpoides_ is a northern species that in Utah approaches the
southern limits of its range. The animals of this species inhabit the
mountains and high valleys. In the southward extension of their range,
as in Utah, they are found at higher elevations which zonally represent
lower elevations at more northern latitudes. The specific characters
are: Sphenorbital fissure absent; incisive foramina anterior to
infraorbital canal; anterior prism of P4 triangular; interparietal
relatively large; lambdoidal suture concave posteriorly in region of
interparietal, in Utah specimens.
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