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Biogeography Of Southwestern Pocket Gophers In The Genus Geomys, Courtney Massey, James W. Demastes

Research in the Capitol

Species status between closely related species can be difficult to discern. The southwest United States is home to several species of pocket gophers (Geomys), including the northern species, G.arenarius and G. bursarius major, and southern G. bursarius knoxjonesi. Current biogeographic hypotheses for this assemblage involve a population of G. bursarius using one of several potential colonization routes across the arid region between the Pecos River and the Rio Grande Valley, which led to isolation and the speciation of G. arenarius. My project tested three likely colonization routes using comprehensive geographic samples of the aforementioned pocket …