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Yellow-faced pocket gopher

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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Geomyidae
Genus: Cratogeomys
Species:
C. castanops
Binomial name
Cratogeomys castanops
(Baird, 1852)
Subspecies

See text

Range of Cratogeomys castanops
Synonyms

Pappogeomys castanops

The yellow-faced pocket gopher (Cratogeomys castanops) is a species of pocket gopher that is native to shortgrass prairies in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. It is the species that lives north of the Southern Coahuila Filter-Barrier (SCFB).[2] Among the different species, the yellow-faced pocket gopher has a small to medium-sized skull.[3] The fossil of this genus was recorded from the pre-Pleistocene Benson Beds of Arizona.[4]

The yellow-faced pocket gopher has a yellowish-brown coat, a short tail, and one deep groove down the anterior middle of each incisor.

Ligma

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Ontogeny and Reproduction

The reproductive activity of yellow-faced pocket gophers start in November and increases to a peak in March and/or April [5] During mating and copulation, the males emits low guttural squeaks throughout exploratory activities, then the male bites the female when body contact is made.[6] When young animals are old enough to leave the nest, they travel about maternal burrows. Then, when the young are nearly full grown, they disperse from the parental burrow.[7]

Behavior

Researchers have seen a swimming ability in yellow-faced pocket gophers.[8] However, this genus of pocket gophers are less durable than other genera in water, perhaps because of the greater bulk (of its body) that inhibits its endurance.

Most of the foraging is done from the burrow system the yellow-faced pocket gophers create, pulling plants into the burrow by their roots.[7] The burrow system consists of tunnels dug by the gophers averaging 75.8m in length and 10 to 132 cm in depth.[9]

Ecology

Yellow-faced pocket gophers usually inhabit deep sandy or silty soils that are relatively free from rocks.[7] However, where Geomys (another genus of pocket gophers) is present, Cratogeomys is restricted to "denser, shallower, sometimes rocket soils." [10][11] Research in Kansas showed that tracts that had no gophers occupying it consisted largely of areas with fine-textured soils that are planted with crops. The crops (corn, wheat, and grain sorghum) were harvested and disked annually along with the roadside ditches adjacent to the cropland. It was concluded that pocket gophers are not able to inhabit these lands because land-use practices have destabilized the habitats, eliminating both refuge and dispersal corridors.[12]

Yellow-faced pocket gophers are preyed on by small carnivorous mammals and large hawks and owls.[13][14]

Subspecies

There are currently 19 identified subspecies[15] of Cratogeomys castanops:

  • C. c. angusticeps
  • C. c. bullatus
  • C. c. castanops
  • C. c. clarkii
  • C. c. consitus
  • C. c. dalquesti
  • C. c. excelsus
  • C. c. goldmani[16][17]
  • C. c. hirtus
  • C. c. jucundus
  • C. c. parviceps
  • C. c. perexiguus
  • C. c. perplanus
  • C. c. pratensi
  • C. c. sordidulus
  • C. c. subsimus
  • C. c. surculus
  • C. c. tamaulipensis
  • C. c. ustulatus

References

  1. ^ Template:IUCN2008 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
  2. ^ http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1644/07-MAMM-A-001.1
  3. ^ Russell, R. J. , 1968b. Revision of pocket gophers of the genus Pappogeomys. Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 16:581-776
  4. ^ Russell, R. J., 1969. Intraspecific population structure of the species Pappogeomys castanops. Pp. 337-371, in Contributions in mammalogy (J. K. Jones, Jr., ed.). Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, 51:1-428
  5. ^ Smolen, M. J., J. J. Genoways, and R. J. Baker. 1980. demographic and reproductive parameters of the yellow-cheeked pocket gopher (Pappogeomys castanops). J. Mammal., 61:224-236
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ikenberry, R. D 1964 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Bailey, V. 1932. Mammals of New Mexico. N. Amer. Fauna, 53:1-412, 22 pls.
  8. ^ Hickman, G. C. 1977b. Swimming behavior in representative species of the three genera of North American geomyids. Southwestern Nat., 21:531-538.
  9. ^ Hickman, G. C. 1977a. Burrow system structure of Pappogeomys castanops (Geomyidae) in Lubbock County, Texas. Amer. Midland Nat., 97:50-58
  10. ^ Birney, E. C., J.K. Jones, Jr., and D. M. Mortimer. 1971. The yellow-faced pocket gopher, Pappogeomys castanops, in Kansas. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 73:368-375
  11. ^ Findley, J. S. 1987. The natural history of New Mexican mammals. Univ. New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, xii + 164 ppl, 16 unnumbered pls.
  12. ^ http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1894/0038-4909(2007)52%5B296:EOLUAS%5D2.0.CO%3B2
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chase, J. D. 1982. Pp. 239-255 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Jones, J. K., Jr., D.M. Armstrong, and J. R. Choate. 1985. Guide to mammals of the plains states. Univ. Nebraska Press, Lincoln, xix + 371 pp.
  15. ^ Patton, J. L. (2005). "Family Geomyidae". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 859. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  16. ^ http://www.organismnames.com/details.htm?lsid=3860606
  17. ^ http://data.gbif.org/species/browse/taxon/14859750