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Home/Species/ Mountain Pocket Gopher

Thomomys monticolus

J. A. Allen, 1893

Mountain Pocket Gopher

G5Secure Found in 9 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100305
Element CodeAMAFC01080
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilyGeomyidae
GenusThomomys
Synonyms
Thomomys monticolaJ.A. Allen, 1893
Other Common Names
mountain pocket gopher (EN)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Taxonomic Comments
Thomomys mazama was included in this species in some older literature. Following the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM 2024), "the specific epithet spelling changed from -a to -us to match the original spelling since it is treated as a noun in apposition here."
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-11-07
Change Date1996-11-07
Range Extent Comments
Sierra Nevada of central and northern California and extreme west-central Nevada.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Mountain meadows and rocky slopes in pine, fir, spruce, and hemlock forests (Patton, in Wilson and Ruff 1999); in rich moist soil, as well as gravelly or rocky ground. On open forest floor and at edge of meadows. Fossorial. Winter nest may be above ground in snow.

Ecology

Solitary, except during breeding season. Underground burrow system may cover 200 sq ft for young animals to 2000 sq ft for old females. Population density may be 4-14/acre. May live 4 years in the wild. Pocket gophers are ecologically important as prey items and in influencing soils, microtopography, habitat heterogeneity, diversity of plant species, and primary productivity (Huntly and Inouye 1988).

Reproduction

Gestation probably lasts about 18-19 days (Ingles 1965). Females produce 1 litter of 3-4 young/year. Young are born in July-August (Burt and Grossenheider 1964).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - ConiferGrassland/herbaceous
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
CaliforniaSNRYes
NevadaS3Yes
Roadless Areas (9)
California (9)
AreaForestAcres
Caples CreekEldorado National Forest17,854
East YubaTahoe National Forest17,968
Heart LakeLassen National Forest9,349
Log Cabin SaddlebagInyo National Forest15,165
Middle YubaTahoe National Forest7,379
Mt. RebaStanislaus National Forest3,869
Raymond PeakStanislaus National Forest3,646
San JoaquinSierra National Forest22,474
Tragedy - Elephants BackEldorado National Forest20,866
References (16)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2024. The Mammal Diversity Database (MDD). Online. Available: www.mammaldiversity.org
  2. Baker, R. J., L. C. Bradley, R. D. Bradley, J. W. Dragoo, M. D. Engstrom, R. S. Hoffman, C. A. Jones, F. Reid, D. W. Rice, and C. Jones. 2003a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2003. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 229:1-23.
  3. Burt, W. H. and R. P. Grossenheider. 1964. A field guide to the mammals. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  4. Grinnell, J. 1933. Review of the recent mammal fauna of California. University of California Publications in Zoology 40:71-234.
  5. Hall, E. R. 1946. Mammals of Nevada. The University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
  6. Howard, W. E., and H. E. Childs, Jr. 1959. Ecology of pocket gophers with emphasis on <i>Thomomys bottae mewa</i>. Hilgardia 29:277-358.
  7. Huntly, N., and R. Inouye. 1988. Pocket gophers in ecosystems: patterns and mechanisms. BioScience 38:786-793.
  8. Ingles, L. G. 1952. The ecology of the mountain pocket gopher, <i>Thomomys monticola</i>. Ecology 33:87-95.
  9. Ingles, L. G. 1965. Mammals of the Pacific States. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
  10. Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
  11. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's mammals of the world. Sixth edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes, 1,936 pp.
  12. Oxley, D. J., M. B. Fenton and G. R. Carmody. 1974. The effects of roads on populations of small mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 51-59.
  13. Williams, L. R., and G. N. Cameron. 1990. Intraspecific response to variation in food resources by Attwater's pocket gopher. Ecology 71:797-810.
  14. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  15. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes. 2,142 pp. [As modified by ASM the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/index.html]
  16. Wilson, D. E., and S. Ruff. 1999. The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 750 pp.