WESTERN POCKET GOPHER 



Family Geomyidae. Pocket Gophers 



Fossorial rodents with large, strong claws on forefeet; small 

 eyes and ears; external, fur-lined cheek-pouches; broad head; 

 thickset body; legs short and stout; scantily haired tail, tip 

 suppHed with tactile nerves. 



Subfamily Geomyinae 

 Genus Thomomys' 



Dentition: Incisors, i; Canines J] ; Premolars, i; IMolars, f = 20. 



Western Pocket Gopher.— Thomomys bottse 



and related forms 



General Description.— A good-sized rodent, robust in form- 



mcisors strong and broad, very faintly grooved longitudinally 



on mner edge of anterior face; head broad; neck short- legs 



Fig. 59. Pocket Gopher 



short; tail rather short, thick, sparsely haired; claws of forefeet 

 long and well developed for digging; claws of hind feet much 

 less specialized; a pair of capacious, fur-lined cheek-pouches 

 opening on sides of face; eyes and ears small; pelage rather 

 hne and soft; habit fossorial, seldom seen above surface of the 

 ground and often known to be present only through the piles 

 oi earth thrown out by its excavations. Plate XXVI. 



Color.— Sexes colored alike. Summer pelage slightly 

 brighter than that of winter. 



^ For a very full and complete revision of this genus see Vernon 

 Bailey, North American Fauna No. 39, 1915. 



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