The
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Geomys'' contains 12 extant
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
pocket gophers
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all Endemism, endemic to North and Central America. ...
[Search results for "''Geomys''" on th]
ASM Mammal Diversity Database
often collectively referred to as the eastern pocket gophers. Like all pocket gophers, members of this genus are
fossorial
A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...
herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...
.
Species
Extant species include:
*
Desert pocket gopher (''Geomys arenarius'')
*
Attwater's pocket gopher (''G. attwateri'')
*
Baird's pocket gopher (''G. breviceps'')
*
Plains pocket gopher (''G. bursarius'')
*
Hall's pocket gopher
''Geomys jugossicularis'', also known as Hall's pocket gopher and Colorado pocket gopher, is a species of pocket gopher native to the western United States (Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska). Little is known of its behavior or ecology aside from ty ...
(''G. jugossicularis'')
*
Knox Jones's pocket gopher (''G. knoxjonesi'')
*
Sand Hills pocket gopher (''G. lutescens'')
*
Texas pocket gopher (''G. personatus'')
*
Southeastern pocket gopher (''G. pinetis'')
*
Strecker's pocket gopher (''G. streckeri'')
*
Central Texas pocket gopher (''G. texensis'')
*
Tropical pocket gopher
The tropical pocket gopher (''Geomys tropicalis'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to Mexico.
Its natural habitat is hot deserts. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description
The tropical pocket gopher is cinnamon ...
(''G. tropicalis'')
Extinct species:
* †''
Geomys tyrioni''
References
{{Authority control
Pocket gophers
Rodent genera
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque