372 
17. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
that the “ animal has no tail, no ears, eyes covered by the skin, and four toes to all the feet.” 
This is, of course, entirely erroneous, and renders it necessary to avoid this name. The genus 
Geomys is, however, sufficiently characterized in the next paragraph to answer very well for 
this group, and must he adopted. 1 The genera succeeding, in point of date, though all suffi¬ 
ciently appropriate to the gop*hers, are, of course, superseded by Geomys. 
The following brief synopsis may serve to facilitate the determination of species of Geomys. 
A. Upper incisor with two grooves. 
Upper incisor with two grooves, a narrow one near the inner edge, and a deep wide one on or 
external to the central line of the tooth. Fore feet longer than the hinder, owing to the great 
development of the fore claws. 
1. Inner groove always distinct; large groove partly involving the central line of 
the incisor. Size large, 7 to 8 inches, fore feet exceeding 1^ inches, its longest 
claw three-quarters of an inch. bursarius. 
2. Similar to the last, hut smaller, 5 to 6 inches ; forefeet less than 1J inches ; its 
longest claw scarcely over half an inch. breviceps. 
3. Inner groove obsolete in old age ; large groove situated external to the central line pinetis. 
B. Upper incisor with one groove. 
Upper incisor with one large groove exactly in the central portion of the tooth. Fore feet 
not longer, or not as long, as the hinder. 
4. Color nearly uniform yellowish brown. clarkii. 
5. Color, yellowish brown. Sides of face and head chestnut. castanops. 
6. Color, dark reddish chestnut. Hair very stiff.. Mspidus. 
7. Very large size. Grayish brown. Hair soft... mexicanus. 
GEOMYS BURSARIUS. 
Pouched Gopher. 
Mus bursarius, Shaw, Linnaean Transactions, V, 1800, 237 .—Ib. Gen. Zool. II, 1801, 100; pi. cxxxviii. 
Mitchill, Am. Jour. Sc. IV, 1822,183. 
Cricelus bursarius, “ Desm. Nouv. Diet. XIV, 177.” Ib. Mamm. II, 1822, 312. 
Griff. Cut. HI, 1827, 138; plate.— Ib. V, 1827, 235. 
“F. Cut. Diet, des Sc. Nat. XX, 257.” 
Saccophorus bursarius, Kuel, Beitrage, 1820, 65. 
Fischer, Synopsis, 1829, 304. 
Pseudostoma bursarius, Say, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. I, 1823, 406. 
Harlan, Fauna Amer. 1825,153. 
Godman, Am. N. H. II, 90. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. 1, 1849,332 ; pi. xliY. 
Geomys bursarius,Then. F. Bor. Am. I, 1829, 203. 
Ascomys bursarius, Eydoux et Gertais, Voyage de la FaTorite, V, 1839, 23. 
t Mus ludovitianus, Ord, Guthrie’s Geog. 2d Am. ed. II, 1815,292. (Not determinable.) 
Mussaccaius, Mitchill, N. Y. Medical Repository, XXI, Jan. to June 1821, 249. (From west of Lake Superior. 
Plumbago colored Tar.) 
Ascomys canadensis, Licht. Abh. Berl. Akad. 1825, 13; fig. 
Brants, Muizen, 1827, 24. 
Wagner, Suppl. Scbreb. Ill, 1843, 383.— Ib. Abh. K. Baier. Akad. Munchen, XXII, 1846, 
327 (figure of skeleton). 
Geomys canadensis, Leconte, Pr. Phil. Ac. N. Sc. VI, 1852,158. 
1 “Feet short, all with fiTe toes and nails ; those of the fore feet very long. Mouth as in the genus Cricetus, and with 
exterior pouches. Tail round and naked.”— (Rajfinesque, Am. Month. Magazine, II, 1817, 45.) 
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