Museum, University of Nebraska State

 

Variation in Pappogeomys castanops (Geomyidae) on the Llano Estacado of Texas and New Mexico

Robert C. Dowler, Fort Hays State University
Hugh H. Genoways, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Document Type Article

Copyright 1979, Southwestern Association of Naturalists. Used by permission.

Abstract

Nongeographic and geographic variation in the yellow-cheeked pocket gopher, Pappogeomys castanops, were analyzed in specimens collected in northwestern Texas and eastern New Mexico. Univariate and multivariate methods of analysis were utilized to assess variation in morphometric characters among twleve samples of P. castanops. Because of significant variation with age, only adult specimens were used in analyses. Adult males were significantly larger than females in all thirteen characters studied. Our analyses of geographic variation reveal that those specimens previously assigned to the subspecies P. c. simulans are not sufficiently distinct to warrant subspecific designation.