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Geomys Breviceps: The Baird's Pocket Gopher
The Baird’s Pocket Gopher (Geomys breviceps) is also commonly referred to as the Louisiana Pocket Gopher (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History). Their classification is in the order Rodentia and the family Geomyidae. In total, there are three almost identical species of the Geomys; Geomys attwateri and Geomys bursarius, and Geomys breviceps. The Geomys breviceps are larger in size, the Geomys attwateri are medium and the Geomys bursarius are a bit smaller (Davis, Schmidly). The only variation is slightly in size, however, other than this they are un-identifiable by external features. The Baird’s Pocket Gophers are small rodents with the majority of their weight set on their top half. The Baird’s Pocket Gophers are native in eastern Texas as well as in western Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma and south west Arkansas (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History). The Baird’s Pocket Gopher is a burrowing creature, meaning it digs tunnels and generally lives underground, except during the rainy seasons. They have sharp, long, curved front claws designed specifically for digging. Generally, they are safe from predators since they live underground, except for other burrowing rodents such as badgers and long tailed weasels. The Baird’s Pocket Gopher has bacteria in its digestive system, allowing him to digest various grasses and they are able to re-ingest fecal pellets (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History). The first pocket gopher was discovered by Baird in 1855 (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History). They are polygamous and have a high reproductive rate which is one of the main reasons for their survival. On average, the Baird’s Pocket Gopher carries around two or three babies per litter (Davis, Schmidly). For most, the Baird’s Pocket Gopher lives about 1 to 2 years in the wild (Davis, Schmidly). Written by: Lindsay Mokaddem

Refrences:

Introduction: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. "Geomys Breviceps." North American Mammals. 2009. 7 May 2009.  Davis,William B.and Schmidly,David J. "Baird's Pocket Gopher." The Mammals of Texas-Online Edition.1997. 10 May 2009  Wilson, Don E. The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammal. UBC Press, 1999  Sulentich, James M. and Williams, Lawrence R. "Geomys Breviceps." Mammalian Species." 1991. 10 May 2009  _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Habitat (Max Stiegler):

Sulentich, James. Mammalian Species. The American Society of Mammalogists 1991.  Davis, William.The Mammals of Texas. 2009. 11 May 2009.  North American Mammals. 2009. 11 May 2009. 

Physical Description

Cameron, Guy. ADW: G.breviceps4.jpg. Animal Diversity Web. 2006. 13 May 2009 .

Davis, William B., and David J. Schmidly. Baird's Pocket Gopher (Geomys breviceps). The Mammals of Texas. 1997. Texas Tech University. 13 May 2009 . Davis, William B., and David J. Schmidly. Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius). The Mammals of Tesxas. 1997. Texas Tech University. 13 May 2009 . Sulentich, James M., Lawrence R. Williams, and Guy N. Cameron. Geomys Breviceps. Clark Science Center - Smith College. 1997. The American Society of Mammalogists. 13 May 2009 .

Diet Page:

Cameron, Guy. "ADW: G.breviceps4.jpg." Animal Diversity Web. 2006. 13 May 2009  Davis, William B., and David J. Schmidly. "Baird's Pocket Gopher (Geomys breviceps)." The Mammals of Texas. 1997. Texas Tech University. 13 May 2009.  Nationaly Museum of Natural History. "Geomys Breviceps." North American Mammals. 2009. 11 May 2009.  Tumlison, Renn. "Gophers and Moles: Two Mammals Differently Adapted for Life Underground." 2007. Department of Biology. 13 May 2009.

Responsibilities: Intro: Lindsay Mokaddem Body: -Habitat: Max Stiegler -Physical Description: Marty Nall -Diet: Rhiannon Beach