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
_Type._--Male, adult, skin and skull, No. 8395, Collection of Donald R.
Dickey; Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah; May 4, 1920;
collected by A. Brazier Howell; original number 2184 (after Burt, type
not seen).
_Range._--Valley of the Virgin River from Zion National Park west to
the Beaverdam Mountains.
_Diagnosis._--Size large (see measurements); tail long. Color: Upper
parts Sayal Brown; underparts between Vinaceous Cinnamon and Cinnamon,
grading to Pinkish Cinnamon in some specimens; nose, chin, cheeks,
postauricular patches, and top of head grayish black; front feet and
hind feet white; tail Pinkish Buff, with distal third white. Skull:
Massive and ridged; nasals straight and flat, simple distally; dorsal
surface of rostrum slightly concave at proximal end of nasals;
zygomatic arches widely spreading, widest posteriorly; zygomatic
processes of maxillae heavy; premaxillae broad and extending far beyond
posterior end of nasals; rostrum wide and heavy; palate slightly
arched; pterygoid hamulae heavy; interpterygoid space V-shaped;
tympanic bullae moderately inflated ventrally, somewhat compressed
laterally; upper incisors long and heavy; molariform teeth large.
_Comparisons._--Compared with topotypes of _Thomomys bottae birdseyei_,
_planirostris_ differs as follows: Size larger, except total length
which averages slightly less in females. Color: Lighter throughout.
Skull: Larger in every measurement taken; more massive; rostrum wider,
longer and more nearly flat; nasals straight and not inflated dorsally
on distal end; premaxillae wider at posterior ends; extension of
premaxillae posterior to nasals greater; zygomatic arches heavier,
especially the zygomatic processes of the maxillae; posterior ends of
nasals more nearly truncate as opposed to generally rounded; tympanic
bullae more nearly flat and relatively smaller; upper incisors longer
and heavier; interpterygoid space more narrowly V-shaped; molariform
teeth much heavier.
Topotypes of _planirostris_ differ from near topotypes of _Thomomys
bottae virgineus_ as follows: Size larger; tail and hind foot longer.
Color: Slightly darker dorsally, but markedly darker ventrally;
postauricular patches smaller and lighter. Skull: Larger in every
measurement taken; skull more massive; nasals flat, neither arched nor
swollen distally; rostrum wider; nasofrontal region flattened or
concave as opposed to convex; premaxillae relatively narrower;
zygomatic arches heavier, especially in the processes of the maxillae;
tympanic bullae smaller and less inflated ventrally; interpterygoid
space generally more narrowly V-shaped; upper incisors longer and
heavier; molariform teeth larger.
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