MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 2393 
‘presentative of the genus. Aside from the size, which is 
greater than G. bursarius, there is the absence of the marginal 
groove on the incisors, the reduced fore-claws and pouches to 
distinguish this type. With it is associated another ‘‘species” 
(G. castanops) found only in Texas and New Mexico, and 
which combines with the characters of the one some of those 
of the other. The third type occurs in Central America and 
and is represented by the single species G. hispidus. The 
tendency exhibited in the Mexican species is here extended. 
The result is an animal nearly a foot long with shallow 
pockets, stiff, hairy fur and short claws. 
Geomys bursarius (SHAW) RICHARDSON. 
COMMON POCKET GOPHER. 
Figs. i4, 15, 16. 











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Seeger a eee y 
Fig. 14. 
The traveler in the states west of the Mississippi river must 
become familiar with the low mounds scattered over the 
prairies in groups or irregular series. These mounds are a 
characteristic feature of the landscape where there is little 
else to diversify it. They serve to exhibit the nature of the soil 
and its substratum to the casual observer. These little hills 
are the masses of earth which are thrown out by the gophers 
whose burrows mine the soil beneath. The inhabitant of these 
burrows is the subject of this article. The first description is 
that of Shaw in the Linnean Transactions, v, 1800. The paper 
was accompanied by a plate which represented the pockets 
everted and extended, a condition impossible in nature but not 
