Animalia > Chordata > Testudines > Testudinidae > Gopherus

Gopherus (gopher tortoises)

Synonyms: Bysmachelys; Scaptochelys; Testudo milleri; Xerobates

Wikipedia Abstract

Gopherus is a genus of fossorial tortoises commonly referred to as gopher tortoises. The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America. A genetic study has shown that their closest relatives are in the Asian genus Manouria. The gopher tortoises live in the southern United States from California's Mojave Desert across to Florida, and in parts of northern Mexico. Gopher tortoises are so named because of their ability to dig large, deep burrows; those of the Gopher tortoise can be up to 40 feet (12 m) in length and 10 feet (3.0 m) in depth. These burrows are used by a variety of other species, including mammals, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Gopher tortoises are 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) in length, depending on the species. All fiv
View Wikipedia Record: Gopherus

Species

Gopherus agassizii ((Californian) Desert Tortoise) (Critically Endangered) (Attributes)
Gopherus auffenbergi
Gopherus berlandieri (Texas (Gopher )Tortoise) (Attributes)
Gopherus depressus
Gopherus donlaloi
Gopherus evgoodei (Sinaloan Thornscrub Tortoise) (Vulnerable)
Gopherus flavomarginatus (Mexican Gopher Tortoise) (Critically Endangered) (Attributes)
Gopherus hexagonatus
Gopherus morafkai
Gopherus polyphemus ((Florida) Gopher Tortoise) (Vulnerable) (Attributes)
Testudo brevisterna
Testudo edae
Testudo laticunea
Testudo mohavense

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0