Gopherus
Encyclopedia
Gopherus is a genus
of tortoise
s commonly referred to as gopher tortoises. The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America
. A genetic study has shown that their closest relatives are in the Asia
n genus Manouria
.
The gopher tortoises live in the southern United States
from California
's Mojave Desert
across to Florida
, and in parts of northern Mexico
. Gopher tortoises are so named because of their ability to dig large, deep burrows; those of the Gopher tortoise can be up to 40 feet (12.2 m) in length and 10 feet (3 m) in depth. These burrows are used by a variety of other species, including mammals, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Gopher tortoises are 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) in length, depending on the species. All four species are found in xeric habitats.
s that feed on low growing plant life. Their diet consists mostly of grass
es and legumes. Gopher tortoises are scavenger
s and will also feed on small berries
, fruit
s, carrion
, and excrement
. Gopher tortoises are rarely seen drinking from still water. Most of the water gopher tortoises consume comes from within the food they eat.
Genus Gopherus
. Currently the most significant threat to their survival is habitat destruction, but the pet trade and collisions with vehicles have also taken their toll. In order to help decrease gopher tortoise death due to collisions with vehicles, the US Department of Transportation in Mississippi has recently placed angled fences along the road side to keep tortoise from wandering onto the highways near their habitats. On November 9, 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed rulemaking to include the Eastern Population of the Gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, in the List of Threatened Wildlife.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s commonly referred to as gopher tortoises. The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. A genetic study has shown that their closest relatives are in the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n genus Manouria
Manouria
Manouria is a genus of tortoise in the Testudinidae family.It contains the following species:* Impressed Tortoise * Manouria emys* Manouria sondaari - an extinct giant land tortoise from Luzon Island, Philippines....
.
The gopher tortoises live in the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
across to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and in parts of northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Gopher tortoises are so named because of their ability to dig large, deep burrows; those of the Gopher tortoise can be up to 40 feet (12.2 m) in length and 10 feet (3 m) in depth. These burrows are used by a variety of other species, including mammals, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Gopher tortoises are 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) in length, depending on the species. All four species are found in xeric habitats.
Diet
Gopher tortoises are mainly herbivoreHerbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s that feed on low growing plant life. Their diet consists mostly of grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es and legumes. Gopher tortoises are scavenger
Scavenger
Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual scavengers search out dead animal and dead plant biomass on which to feed. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by...
s and will also feed on small berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s, carrion
Carrion
Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...
, and excrement
Coprophagia
Coprophagia or coprophagy is the consumption of feces, from the Greek κόπρος copros and φαγεῖν phagein . Many animal species practice coprophagia as a matter of course; other species do not normally consume feces but may do so under unusual conditions...
. Gopher tortoises are rarely seen drinking from still water. Most of the water gopher tortoises consume comes from within the food they eat.
Breeding
Gopher tortoises usually mate during the months of April and May. The female will then choose either a sunny spot nearby or a sandy mound in front of her burrow to lay between 3 to 15 eggs. The eggs then hatch from 70 to 100 days later. Once hatched the baby tortoises spend most of their time in their mother's burrow until they learn to dig their own. They do not reach maturity until they are around 10 to 15 years old. Gopher tortoises have an abbreviated mating season in early spring, when male tortoises visit the female tortoise' burrows and mate with them (Landers, 1980).Species
In July 2011, researchers decided on the basis of DNA and behavioral data that the Sonoran and Mojave populations of the desert tortoise were distinct species. As such, there are currently five recognized species in the genus Gopherus:Genus Gopherus
- Mojave Desert tortoiseDesert TortoiseThe desert tortoise is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They can be located in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of...
Gopherus agassizii (CooperJames Graham CooperJames Graham Cooper was an American surgeon and naturalist.Cooper was born in New York. He worked for the California Geological Survey with Josiah Dwight Whitney, William Henry Brewer and Henry Nicholas Bolander...
, 1863) - Sonoran desert Tortoise Gopherus morafkai (Murphy et al., 2011)
- Texas tortoiseTexas TortoiseThe Texas Tortoise , is one of four species of tortoise that are native to North America. Its range extends from southern Texas southward into the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas...
Gopherus berlandieri (AgassizLouis AgassizJean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
, 1857) - Bolson tortoiseBolson TortoiseThe Bolson tortoise , also called the Mexican giant tortoise or Yellow-margined tortoise, is a species of tortoise from North America. Of the four North American tortoise species, it is the largest, having a carapace length of about...
Gopherus flavomarginatus (Legler, 1959) - Gopher tortoise Gopherus polyphemus (DaudinFrançois Marie DaudinFrançois Marie Daudin was a French zoologist.With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied of physics and natural history, but ended up being devoted to the latter.Daudin wrote in 1799–1800...
, 1802)
Conservation
Populations of all five species of Gopherus have declined dramatically. In the past, gopher tortoises were hunted for their meat, which was used in stewsTurtle soup
Turtle soup is soup or stews made from the flesh of the turtle. The dish exists in many cultures and is viewed as a luxury or delicacy.The green turtle was commonly used for turtle soup in the United States and United Kingdom. Soup made from the snapping turtle was found mainly in the United States...
. Currently the most significant threat to their survival is habitat destruction, but the pet trade and collisions with vehicles have also taken their toll. In order to help decrease gopher tortoise death due to collisions with vehicles, the US Department of Transportation in Mississippi has recently placed angled fences along the road side to keep tortoise from wandering onto the highways near their habitats. On November 9, 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed rulemaking to include the Eastern Population of the Gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, in the List of Threatened Wildlife.