Wyoming pocket gopher
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The Wyoming pocket gopher (''Thomomys clusius'') is a species of
gopher 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 endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...
that is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Between 1915 and 1979, it was generally considered to be a subspecies of the northern pocket gopher.


Description

The Wyoming pocket gopher is the smallest species of the genus '' Thomomys'', with a total length of about , including a tail about long. Adults weigh from . The fur is a pale yellowish-grey across the upper parts of the body and most of the head, and white on the underparts, feet, and tail. The snout is near black in color. It can be distinguished from the closely related northern pocket gopher by the lack of dark patches on its ears, as well as by its smaller size. Like other gophers, it has strong front limbs with digging claws, and small ears and eyes.Wyoming Pocket Gopher - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Profile
/ref> The fur-lined cheek pouches are relatively large, reaching about back from the snout.


Distribution and habitat

The Wyoming pocket gopher is found only in a relatively limited area of southern
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
, in eastern
Sweetwater County Sweetwater County is a County (United States), county in southwestern Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 42,272, making it the List of counties in Wyoming, fourth-most populous county in Wyoming. Its ...
and southwestern Carbon County. It inhabits relatively flat, well-drained areas, often in association with greasewood ('' Sarcobatus'' spp.) and Gardner's saltbush ('' Atriplex gardneri'').


Biology and behavior

In most respects, the Wyoming pocket gopher is thought to be similar in habits and biology to the northern pocket gopher, of which it was formerly considered a subspecies. It is thought to be solitary, living in burrows that are significantly narrower than those of the northern species. It was initially separated from the northern pocket gopher on the basis that it possesses a different
karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...
of 2n=46, rather than 2n=48. There is no evidence that the two species are able to interbreed.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768052 Wyoming pocket Endemic rodents of the United States Wyoming pocket gopher Wyoming pocket gopher Wyoming pocket gopher Mammals described in 1875 Least concern biota of the United States Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Elliott Coues