Distribution of Gophers (Geomyidae) in Western Texas

Hybrid Pocket Gophers and Some Thoughts on the Relationship of Natural Hybrids to the Rules of Nomenclature and the Endangered Species Act

“…More than 2 decades ago, Thornton and Creel (1975) collected specimens of G. bursarius from a place 3 km S [=SW] Ballinger, Runnels Co., Texas. This record was published the year after Davis' (1974) most recent summary of the distribution of Texas mammals; it was overlooked by Hall (1981) and also by the variety of mammalogists who have studied pocket gophers in Texas over the past few years.…”

The mammals of Tom Green County, Texas

“…Pappogeomys castanops (Baird).- Jones and Jones (1992) reported that the yellow-faced pocket go¬ pher is found in the wostem third of the state from the Panhandle to Val Verde County and throughout the Trans-Pecos region. Specimens have been reported from all three comities (Sterling, Reagan, Irion) adjacent to the panhandle of Tom Green County (Thornton and Creel, 1975) suggesting the presence of this species in the westernmost parts of the comity. Other near records include Glasscock (Thornton and Creel, 1975), Howard and Martin (Choate et al, 1992), and Terrell, Crane, Pecos and Upton counties (Hollander et al, 1987ri).…”

“…Specimens have been reported from all three comities (Sterling, Reagan, Irion) adjacent to the panhandle of Tom Green County (Thornton and Creel, 1975) suggesting the presence of this species in the westernmost parts of the comity. Other near records include Glasscock (Thornton and Creel, 1975), Howard and Martin (Choate et al, 1992), and Terrell, Crane, Pecos and Upton counties (Hollander et al, 1987ri).…”

“…Four species of pocket gophers (T. bottae, G. bursarius, G. texensis, P castanops) occur in the Concho Valley region (Davis and Schmidly, 1994;Goetze and Jones, 1992;Hollander et al, 1987a;Thornton and Creel, 1975), but only T. boitae has been found in Tom Green County. Thomomys largely is re¬ stricted to shallow rocky soils on limestone uplands in this region.…”

“…north of the county. A nearer Coke County population found in 1971 (Thornton and Creel, 1975) cannot be relocated, de¬ spite two independent efforts (Simpson and Maxwell, 1989;Goetze and Jones, 1992). A well-knowm iso¬ lated population near Ballinger, Runnels County, has been thoroughly examined (Bailey, 1918;Thornton and Creel, 1975;Goetze and Jones, 1992).…”