Distribution and Variation in Pocket Gophers, Thomomys talpoides, in the State of Washington

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Abstract
In a monographic treatment of Washington pocket gophers, the development of the population since the Pleistocene from a relic and an immigrant group of subspp. is first outlined. Present day ecological habits of each group allow the post-Pleistocene changes in distribution to be correlated with geologic variation. The habits of pocket gophers enable them to survive long periods in the isolated patches of inhabitable territory provided by the diverse topographical conditions, etc. Thus the tendency to form microgeo-graphic races is pronounced and is strikingly exemplified by a mutant type with an intemasal bone found in one of them. In an exhaustive analysis of gopher populations from 7 prairies in the Puget Sound area, definite correlations are established between body size and depth of soil. Studies of hair color and pattern types have shown greater genetic differences between the immigrant and relic groups of subspecies than between the subspecies of each group. The authors present an annotated catalog of 17 subspp., all of which have been described elsewhere, including notes on range, color, and photographs of skulls of each.

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