Gopherus polyphemus
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The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), sometimes called the Florida gopher tortoise is a species tortoise native to the coastal plains of the United States. They are predominantly found in the state of Florida, but also range into the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Description
Gopher tortoises are a medium sized tortoise, averaging 10 inches long and around 9 lbs in weight at adult size. Their carapace is primarily a brown-grey in color, and their plastron is generally a yellow or tan color. Males are distinguished from females by their concave plastron, and longer tail. It is one of only four species of tortoise native to North America.
Habitat & Behavior
Species in the genus Gopherus are known for their digging ability. They often dig burrows several feet deep into the ground, where they spend the majority of their time. The burrows are generally located in dry places such as sandhills, flatwoods, prairies and coastal dunes. Except during breeding season, gopher tortoises are solitairy animals, inhabiting a small home range. Within their range they dig several burrows.
Diet & Reproduction
Gopher tortoises are herbivorous, the bulk of their diet consists of grasses, such as wiregrass, but they will often consume berries, other fruit, or even scavenge carrion that they find within their reach.
Gopher tortoises mate in late spring, during the months of April and May. The female lays between 3 and 15 eggs in a sandy mound somewhere near her burrow. The eggs incubate and hatch in around 70 to 100 days. Hatchlings initially will spend time sheltering in their mother's burrow but soon wander off on their own. Maturity is not reached until 10-15 years of age.
Conservation concerns
Gopher tortoises are what is referred to as a keystone species. Many other species rely on the gopher tortoise's burrows for their own shelter, including gopher frogs (Rana capito), several species of snake, such as the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), and several species of small mammals, like the cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus). As the gopher tortoise habitat shrinks, largely due to human land development, and their numbers decrease, the populations of the species which are dependant on them also dwindle. As such, and because of their relatively slow life cycle, gopher tortoises are listed as an endangered species.
Related Species
References
- Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). [Gopherus polyphemus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1acde v2.3)
- [Enchanted Forest Nature Sanctuary: Gopher Tortoise]
- [Savannah River Ecology Laboratory: Gopher Tortoise Fact Sheet]
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