Pocket gopher

A gopher

The pocket gophers ( Geomyidae ) are a family of North and Central American grave forming rodents.

Features

Pocket gophers have very small eyes and ears. Your body is plump, legs short. The naked tail has relatively short, but with a very sensitive sense of touch. As an adaptation to the grave lifestyle the tear glands continuously secrete a thick substance to protect the eyes against the ingress of dirt; the teeth are outside of the lips, which can be behind close gaps. Allows the animals to the teeth used for digging, without entering that sand in the mouth. There are five strong grave claws on the forefeet. The size varies 9-30 cm ( body length ), added 4 to 14 cm tail.

Are named after the great gophers fur bags that serve the storage of food. These devices are located on the outside of the cheeks and sides can be put on for cleaning the outside.

Dissemination

The distribution ranges from southern Canada through the United States and Mexico to Panama. Here live in Mexico by far the most species. Pocket gophers of the species Thomomys talpoides were among the few animal species that survived the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 in relatively large numbers.

Way of life

Almost her entire life spend gophers underground. Only in exceptional cases it performs the search for food at the surface. They dig two types of tunnels: Tunnels for foraging run close to the surface and are very narrow; the burrows with nest, sleeping and storage chambers are deeper and reach considerable dimensions. Pocket gophers do not hibernate. Especially in the northern regions of their range they provide but in the cold season, a trench.

The food of gophers are the underground parts of plants, ie roots and tubers. You stow the food in their cheek pouches and bring them into the deeper pantries. The enemies are mostly grave of prey animals such as skunks and badgers silver. Some snakes of the genus Pituophis follow the gophers in their courses and are referred because of this specialization in their home as a " gopher snakes ".

Pocket gophers are strict loners who come together only briefly for reproduction. Meeting otherwise two successive adult animals, there is fierce fighting. A female gives birth to a litter of two to ten young.

System

While McKenna and Bell combine the gophers as a family with the pocket mice in a joint family, the Geomyidae the vast number of sources are an independent family. But it is indisputable a close relationship with the pocket mice. Fossil pocket gophers are occupied since the Oligocene.

The following genera and species can be distinguished:

  • Cratogeomys Merriam, 1895, with eight species in Mexico and the southern United States, was originally regarded as a subgenus of Pappogeomys Mexican gopher ( Cratogeomys castanops Baird, 1852)
  • Cratogeomys goldmani Merriam, 1895
  • Cratogeomys fumosus Merriam, 1892
  • Cratogeomys gymnurus Merriam, 1892
  • Merriam- gopher ( Cratogeomys merriami Thomas, 1893)
  • Cratogeomys neglectus Merriam, 1902
  • Cratogeomys tylorhinus Merriam, 1895
  • Cratogeomys zinseri Goldman, 1939
  • Geomys attwateri Merriam, 1895
  • Geomys arenarius Merriam, 1895
  • Geomys breviceps Baird, 1855
  • Lowland gopher ( Geomys bursarius Shaw, 1800)
  • Geomys knoxjonesi Baker & Genoways 1975
  • Texas gopher ( Geomys personatus True, 1889)
  • Southeastern gopher or pine gopher ( Geomys pinetis Rafinesque, 1817)
  • Geomys texensis Merriam, 1895
  • Geomys tropicalis Goldman, 1915
  • Orthogeomys cavator Bangs, 1902
  • Orthogeomys cherriei J. A. Allen, 1893
  • Orthogeomys cuniculus Elliot, 1905
  • Orthogeomys dariensis Goldman, 1912
  • Giant gopher or pouched rats ( Orthogeomys grandis Thomas, 1893)
  • Orthogeomys heterodus Peters, 1865
  • Orthogeomys lanius Elliot, 1905
  • Orthogeomys matagalpae J. A. Allen, 1910
  • Orthogeomys thaeleri Alberico, 1990
  • Orthogeomys underwoodi Osgood, 1931
  • Pappogeomys alcorni Russell, 1957
  • Pappogeomys bulleri Thomas, 1892
  • Mountain gopher ( Thomomys bottae Eydoux & Gervais, 1836)
  • Camas gopher ( Thomomys bulbivorus Richardson, 1829)
  • Thomomys cluster Coues, 1875
  • Thomomys idahoensis Merriam, 1901
  • Mazama gopher ( Thomomys mazama Merriam, 1897)
  • Sierra - gopher ( Thomomys monticola JA Allen, 1893)
  • Northern gopher ( Thomomys talpoides Richardson, 1828)
  • Thomomys townsendii Bachman, 1839
  • Dwarf pocket rat ( Thomomys umbrinus Richardson, 1829)
  • Zygogeomys Trichopus Merriam, 1895
Euarchontoglires Castorimorpha Middle America (region) Somatosensory system 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens Clinton Hart Merriam Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Plains pocket gopher George Shaw Botta's pocket gopher Don E. Wilson
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