MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 



223 



preservative 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. 14,15,16. 



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 



