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Oriental Basin pocket gopher

The Oriental Basin pocket gopher (Cratogeomys fulvescens) is a species of pocket gopher which is endemic to Mexico. It was first described in 1895 by Clinton Hart Merriam. It was considered to be a subspecies of Merriam's pocket gopher (Cratogeomys merriami) in the late 20th and early 21st century but has been reinstated as its own species. The IUCN Red List has evaluated it to be of least concern.

Oriental Basin pocket gopher
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Geomyidae
Genus: Cratogeomys
Species:
C. fulvescens
Binomial name
Cratogeomys fulvescens
Synonyms
  • Pappogeomys (Cratogeomys) merriami fulvescens (Merriam, 1895)[3]
  • Cratogeomys fulvescens subluteus Nelson and Goldman, 1934[4]
  • Cratogeomys merriami fulvescens Merriam, 1895

Description

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C. fulvescens is mid-sized for the genus Cratogeomys and exhibits sexual dimorphism in size. Adult males weigh of 250–550 g (8.8–19.4 oz) and adult females weigh 250–350 g (8.8–12.3 oz). Its fur coloration is "grizzled yellowish-brown" with "a strong mixture of black-tipped hairs"; the underside is paler than the dorsal fur.[5] The cranial width of its skull is typically less than 26 mm (1.0 in), making it small for the genus. The dental formula is 1.0.1.31.0.1.3 × 2 = 20. Each upper incisor has a longitudinal groove along its anterior surface.[5] The total body length is 290–350 mm (11–14 in).[5]

Distribution

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This species is endemic to a small region in the southern half of Mexico.[6][1] Its range is in the Oriental Basin[5] of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt,[7] and is within the Mexican states of Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz.[5] The elevation in its distribution spans 2,300–2,700 m (7,500–8,900 ft).[5] Merriam noted the type locality as: "Chalchicomula, State of Puebla, Mexico";[2] this city is now known as Ciudad Serdán.[8] The type locality for the formerly-recognized subspecies C. f. subluteus is Perote, Veracruz.[4]

Taxonomic history

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The American zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam wrote the species description for C. fulvescens in 1895. Merriam based his description on eleven specimens from Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico. In Merriam's classification of Cratogeomys, C. fulvescens was grouped with C. castanops on the basis of cranial morphology.[2]

In 1968, Robert J. Russell reclassified Cratogeomys to be a subgenus of Pappogeomys.[9] Russell also analyzed Merriam's C. fulvescens as being a subspecies of what was in his work called Pappogeomys (Cratogeomys) merriami.[3] Russell stated that of the seven subspecies he recognized for P. (C.) merriami, "the most divergent" was P. (C.) m. fulvescens due to differences in coloration, size, and cranial morphology.[10] This classification in E. Raymond Hall's 1981 The Mammals of North America also used the combination P. (C.) m. fulvescens for this taxon.[11] Cratogeomys was reinstated as a genus in 1982;[12][8] the third edition of Mammal Species of the World refers to this taxon as C. m. fulvescens.[13]

C. fulvescens was reinstated as its own species in 2005 due to a genetic and morphological study by Mark S. Hafner and colleagues. They placed it in the C. castanops species group.[8][6]

No subspecies are presently recognized.[5][6] A subspecies, C. f. subluteus had been described in 1934 by Edward William Nelson and Edward Alphonso Goldman.[4] This subspecies was also known by the common names "yellow pocket gopher"[14] and "fulvous pocket gopher".[15]

The holotypes for C. fulvescens and for C. f. subluteus are both in the collections of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.[16] Each specimen consists of its preserved skin and its skull.[17] Nelson and Goldman collected both holotypes: The C. fulvescens holotype was collected in 1894,[2] and the C. f. subluteus holotype was collected in 1893.[4]

The specific epithet fulvescens (fulv-esc-ens, "yellowing") is the Latin present participle of the inchoative form of the verb meaning "to become tawny". The epithet of its formerly recognized subspecies, subluteus (sub-luteus), is a Latin adjective meaning "yellowish".[18] The common name for the species, Oriental Basin pocket gopher, refers to the Oriental Basin in Mexico, where it is found.[5] Its common name in Spanish is gran tuza de la Cuenca de Oriental.[19]

Biology

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G. fulvescens paratypes in the Natural History Museum, London

C. fulvescens's diet consists of rhizomes, bulbs, and roots.[5] Pregnancy has been observed from December through February.[5] Because pregnancy was not observed in July, it is thought they only have one litter each year.[14]

Two species of chewing lice in the genus Geomydoecus have C. fulvescens as a host: G. fulvescens and G. veracruzensis.[20][21] Both species were described in 1971 by Roger D. Price and K. C. Emerson.[22] The flea species Dasypsyllus megasoma and Meringis altipecten were also observed on C. fulvescens; although it is thought the presence of M. altipecten is thought to have been accidental rather than due to being a typical ectoparasite for the species.[23] The nematode species Vexillata convoluta is also a parasite of C. fulvescens.[24]

Genetics

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Its diploid number is 2n=40 and its fundamental number is FN=72.[5] C. fulvescens contains an autapomorphic allele for the gene RAG1 distinguishing it from C. perotensis and C. merriami.[8]

Conservation status and relationship with humans

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The IUCN Red List has classified this species as a least-concern species,[1] and SEMARNAT did not include it in its 2010 list of threatened or endangered mammals of Mexico.[25][5] Although its observed habitat is less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi), it is believed to be "common and adaptable".[1] Part of its range is affected by habitat loss due to human expansion.[1] C. fulvescens were found as roadkill along a highway going through its range.[26][27] Mark S. Hafner wrote there ought to be further studies on its conservation status, particularly as its geographic range is smaller than that of other Mexican pocket gophers.[5] C. fulvescens have been observed in farmland and might be considered to be a pest[5] as they destroy crops including wheat, corn, and beans.[2][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T.; Castro-Arellano, I.; Lacher, T.; Vázquez, E. (2017). "Cratogeomys fulvescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T136215A22217087. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T136215A22217087.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Merriam, C. Hart (1895). Monographic Revision of the Pocket Gophers Family Geomyidæ (Exclusive of the species of Thomomys). North American Fauna. Vol. 8. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 151, 161–162.
  3. ^ a b Russell (1968), pp. 700–703.
  4. ^ a b c d Nelson, E. W.; Goldman, E. A. (1934). "Revision of the Pocket Gophers of the Genus Cratogeomys". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 47: 152.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Hafner, Mark S. (2013). "Oriental Basin pocket gopher". In Ceballos, Geraldo (ed.). Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 247–248. ISBN 9781421408439.
  6. ^ a b c Ramírez-Pulido, José; González-Ruiz, Noé; Gardner, Alfred L.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Arroyo-Cabrales (2014). List of Recent Land Mammals of Mexico, 2014. Special Publications of the Museum of Texas Tech University. Vol. 63. Lubbock, TX: Museum of Texas Tech University. pp. 21. 53. hdl:10088/33974. ISBN 978-1-929330-27-0.
  7. ^ Fernández, Jesús A.; Hafner, Mark S.; Hafner, David J.; Cervantes, Fernando A. (2014). "Conservation status of rodents of the families Geomyidae and Heteromyidae of Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 85 (2): 579. doi:10.7550/rmb.36710.
  8. ^ a b c d Hafner, Mark S.; Light, Jessica E.; Hafner, David J.; Brant, Sara V.; Spradling, Theresa A.; Demastes, James W. (2005). "Cryptic Species in the Mexican Pocket Gopher Cratogeomys merriami". Journal of Mammalogy. 86 (6): 1095–1108. doi:10.1644/05-MAMM-A-064R1.1.
  9. ^ Russell (1968), pp. 591–594.
  10. ^ Russell (1968), pp. 695–697.
  11. ^ Hall, E. Raymond (1981). The Mammals of North America. Vol. 1. New York: John Wiley & Sohns. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-471-05443-6.
  12. ^ Honeycutt, R. L.; Williams, S. L. (1982). "Genic Differentiation in Pocket Gophers of the Genus Pappogeomys, with Comments on Intergeneric Relationships in the Subfamily Geomyinae". Journal of Mammalogy. 63 (2): 208–217. doi:10.2307/1380629. JSTOR 1380629.
  13. ^ Patton, J. L. (2005). "Family Geomyidae". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 861. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  14. ^ a b Davis, William B. (1944). "Notes on Mexican Mammals". Journal of Mammalogy. 25 (4): 388. doi:10.2307/1374900. JSTOR 1374900.
  15. ^ a b Hall, E. Raymond; Dalquest, Walter W. (1963). "The Mammals of Veracruz". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History. 14 (14): 280–281.
  16. ^ Wilson, Don E. (1991). "Especímenes tipo de mamíferos mexicanos en el National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C., EUA". Anales del Instituto de Biología. Serie Zoología. 62 (2): 293. ISSN 0368-8720.
  17. ^ Poole, Arthur J.; Schantz, Viola S. (1942). "Catalog of the Type Specimens of Mammals in the United States National Museum, Including the Biological Surveys Collection". Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin. 178: 367.
  18. ^ Glare, P. G. W. (1968). "sublūteus". Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1844.
  19. ^ Castañeda, Sergio Ticul Alvarez; González-Ruiz, Noé (2018). "Spanish and English Vernacular Names of Mammals of North America". THERYA. 9 (1): 80. ISSN 2007-3364.
  20. ^ Price, Roger D.; Hellenthal, Ronald A. (1989). "Geomydoecus (Mallophaga: Trichodectidae) from Pappogeomys and Zygogeomys Pocket Gophers (Rodentia: Geomyidae) in Central Mexico". Journal of Medical Entomology. 26 (5): 390–391, 395. doi:10.1093/jmedent/26.5.385. PMID 2795610.
  21. ^ Light, Jessica E.; Hafner, Mark S. (2007). "Cophylogeny and disparate rates of evolution in sympatric lineages of chewing lice on pocket gophers" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 45 (3): 1009. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.09.001. PMID 17964189.
  22. ^ Price, Roger D.; Emerson, K. C. (1971). "A Revision of the Genus Geomydoecus (Mallophaga: Trichodectidae) of the New World Pocket Gophers (Rodentia: Geomyidae)". Journal of Medical Entomology. 8 (3): 230, 253, 256–257. doi:10.1093/jmedent/8.3.228. PMID 5118865.
  23. ^ Acosta, Roxana; Fernández, Jesús A. (2015). "Flea diversity and prevalence on arid-adapted rodents in the Oriental Basin, Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 86 (4): 984, 986. doi:10.1016/j.rmb.2015.09.014.
  24. ^ Escalante, Tania; Martínez-Salazar, Elizabeth A.; Falón-Ordaz, Jorge; Linaje, Miguel; Guerrero, Ricardo (2011). "Análisis panbiogeográfico de Vexillata (Nematoda: Ornithostrongylidae) y sus huéspedes (Mammalia: Rodentia)" [Panbiogeographic analysis of Vexillata (Nematoda: Ornithostrongylidae) and its hosts (Mammalia: Rodentia)]. Acta Zoológica Mexicana. (nueva serie). 27 (1): 29. doi:10.21829/azm.2011.271732. ISSN 0065-1737.
  25. ^ SEMARNAT (2010). "NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, Protección ambiental-Especies nativas de México de flora y fauna silvestres-Categorías de riesgo y especificaciones para su inclusión, exclusión o cambio-Lista de especies en riesgo". Diario Oficial de la Federación. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  26. ^ González-Gallina, Alberto; Benítez-Badillo, Griselda; Rojas-Soto, Octavio R.; Hidalgo-Mihart, Mircea G. (2012). "The small, the forgotten and the dead: highway impact on vertebrates and its implications for mitigation strategies". Biodiversity and Conservation. 22 (2): 331. doi:10.1007/s10531-012-0396-x. S2CID 17140075.
  27. ^ González-Gallina, Alberto; Benítez-Badillo, Griselda; Hidalgo-Mihart, Mircea G.; Equihua, Miguel; Rojas-Soto, Octavio R. (2016). "Roadkills as a complementary information source for biological surveys using rodents as a model". Journal of Mammalogy. 97 (1): 149–150. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyv165.

Works cited

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