Unlike other species of pocket gopher the surface mound Michoacan pocket gophers create is unique. They are volcano shaped, lack a terminal opening and/or plug, have a more conical shape, and are significantly taller than the mounds of other species. The uniqueness of the mound of Michoacan pocket gophers may be evidence of it having habits that differentiate it from other species of pocket gophers.
No information could be found on specific forms of communication used by Michoacan pocket gophers. Its life underground has led to reduced eyes and ears and enhanced olfactory and tactile senses. It is likely these are the senses it uses to perceive its environment and to communicate with others.
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Michoacan pocket gophers are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list due to extreme habitat fragmentation, a decline in the population of mature individuals due to competition with aggressive pocket gophers, and a decline in the quality of habitat. It is not listed on the US Federal list or CITES list.
In areas where the habitat of Michoacan pocket gophers is encroached upon by people, usually for agricultural purposes, it has been known to cause damage to crops such as potatoes, corn, and wheat. Generally it is not in populated areas and causes little disturbance to people.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
The action of their tunneling causes pocket gophers to increase soil porosity, promote the mixing of soil chemicals, and decrease water runoff. Humans benefit from all of these actions.
No information could be found specifically for the ecological role that Michoacan pocket gophers play in their environment; the information provided here is about pocket gophers in general. Animals such as mice, snakes, weasels, lizards, toads, and salamanders use abandoned burrows as refuges from predators and the weather. Pocket gophers are an important food source for many different species of predators. They continuously turn the soil, increase fertilization (via bury vegetation and feces), and aerate the soil, increasing its overall quality. Finally, burrows at higher elevations catch water from rainfall and snowmelt and hold onto it, decreasing soil erosion. Pocket gophers are also the obligate host of chewing lice (Geomydoecus and Thomomydoecus)
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds; creates habitat; soil aeration
Mutualist Species:
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
No information could be found on the specific diet of Michoacan pocket gophers, however pocket gophers in general are strict herbivores. They eat a variety of different plants and plant parts, including; stems, corms, forb shoots, tubers, roots, grass shoots, rhizomes, seeds, nuts, and stolen. It has been speculated that unlike other pocket gophers Michoacan pocket gophers do not leave their burrow to forage and are instead entirely subterranean. This would limit their diet to subterranean plant tissues. Pocket gophers, such as Chiriqui pocket gophers, which are closely related to Michoacan pocket gophers, are known to cache food when supply is high. Michoacan pocket gophers may also display this behavior.
Plant Foods: roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; seeds, grains, and nuts
Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food
Primary Diet: herbivore (Lignivore)
Michoacan pocket gophers (Zygogeomys trichopus) are endemic to Mexico and are found in only four areas of the Sierra Madre of Michoacan; Nahuatzen, Cerro Patamban, Patzcuaro, and Cerro Tancitaro. In Nahuatzen, habitat destruction caused by an increase in agriculture has allowed more aggressive pocket gophers to encroach on its territory. More aggressive pocket gophers have appeared to have out-competed Michoacan pocket gophers in this area as no specimens have been reported from this area recently. Similar deforestation is occurring in the western parts of Cerro Tancitaro and eastern Patzcuaro and pocket gopher habitat is expanding in these areas as well, increasing the chance of Michoacan pocket gophers being extirpated from these areas, as well.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Michoacan pocket gophers are found in pine-spruce-alder forests with friable soil at elevations between 2200 and 3600 meters. Excavations of their burrows have shown that the central burrow, and likely their nesting chamber, tends to be about two meters below the surface. Lateral tunnels, used for foraging, tend to be 20 to 30 centimeters below the ground. Unlike other pocket gophers, which will forage for food above ground near their burrow openings, Michoacan pocket gophers appear to be entirely subterranean.
Range elevation: 2200 to 3600 m.
Range depth: 0.2 to 0.3 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
No specific information on the longevity of Michoacan pocket gophers could be found. Pocket gophers, in general, tend to have a lifespan of 1 to 3 years in the wild. In many species females are significantly longer lived.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 1 to 6 years.
In general, pocket gophers are considered medium sized rodents; they have small eyes and external ears, a small, flattened head, short necks, fusiform shaped bodies, their fore paws have large claws, and their short tails are sparsely haired or naked. All gophers have external cheek pouches that are fur-lined and used to transport food through their burrows. To keep soil from getting into their mouth they have skin that grows behind their incisors. The length of Michoacan pocket gophers varies from 290 to 370mm and they typically weigh around 545 grams. Males and females are very difficult to tell apart from each other though males tend to be larger.
Their large incisors each have two grooves and grow continuously; they must gnaw consistently to keep them at the appropriate length. Michoacan pocket gophers have a number of physical characteristics that distinguish it from other pocket gophers. It is smaller than Llano pocket gophers, which inhabit similar habitat. Michoacan pocket gophers have small, deep-set eyes and short, dark grey to brown fur – similar to that of a mole. The fur on the dorsal side of its hind legs is lighter in color (grey to white), they can also have a white patch of fur on their throat. It has a hairless tail, and behind the rhinarium, on the rostrum, there is a hairless pad-like structure.
Average mass: 545 g.
Range length: 290 to 370 mm.
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; male larger
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
No specific list of predators could be found for Michoacan pocket gophers. In general pocket gophers are preyed upon a number of species which include badgers, domestic dog, weasels, bobcats, several snake species, skunks, house cats, foxes, coyotes, and several species of hawks and owls. As it was noted before Michoacan pocket gophers spends very little of its life above ground, this would severely limit opportunity for predators such as bobcats, dogs, coyotes, and raptors to prey upon it. Thus the lifestyle of Michoacan pocket gophers acts as a form of anti-predator adaptation.
Known Predators:
Very little is known about reproduction of Michoacan pocket gophers. Information on the breeding season of Michoacan pocket gophers is very limiting. A single pregnant female carrying one embryo was captured mid-December and the testes of males caught in March and August were around three times smaller, less than 5 mm, than the testes of males caught in December, greater than 14 mm. They are thought to be polygynous.
Mating System: polygynous
Michoacan pocket gophers are solitary and likely territorial aside from when they mate or when females are rearing their young. It is unknown when the breeding season is or if they breed year round. Gestation, weaning periods, and age at sexual maturity are also unknown.
Breeding interval: The breeding frequency of Michoacan pocket gophers is currently unknown.
Breeding season: The mating season of Michoacan pocket gophers is currently unknown.
Range number of offspring: 1 (low) .
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Pocket gopher pups are altricial so some form of parental care, provided solely by the female, is required. The extent of this care and how long it’s provided for is unknown in Michoacan pocket gophers as all of it occurs two meters below the ground in the nesting chamber.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
The Michoacan pocket gopher (Zygogeomys trichopus) is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae.[2] It is monotypic within the genus Zygogeomys.[3] It is endemic to Mexico where its natural habitat is temperate, high-altitude forests. Its numbers are declining and it is listed by the IUCN as "endangered".[1]
The Michoacan pocket gopher is a small animal with short, dense, black, lustrous fur and a hairless tail. The eyes are small and deep-set and there is a pad-like region of bare skin just behind the nostrils. It is docile when caught, making no attempt to bite as do other pocket gophers.[4]
The Michoacan pocket gopher is endemic to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt mountain range in central southern Mexico, where it occurs in four discrete locations near west of Lake Pátzcuaro at altitudes over 2,200 metres (7,200 ft).[1][3] The fossil record shows that members of the genus Zygogeomys, including two other now extinct species, were widespread in the late Pliocene epoch in the southwestern United States. Its typical habitat is mixed forests of spruce, pine, and alder with deep friable soil suitable for burrowing. A number of small populations separated by unsuitable terrain exist. The species shows little genetic variation and the present population may be a relict of a previous, more widespread distribution.[3]
The Michoacan pocket gopher lives in a burrow and throws up a characteristic, cone-shaped mound of soil on the surface with no visible entrance. A central chamber has been found 2 m (6 ft 7 in) underground and may be where the young are raised. Little is known of the animal's breeding habits, which may be seasonal, as males caught in March and August had small testes while one caught in December had large ones. A pregnant female containing one embryo has been caught in December.[3] This animal is seldom caught in surface traps[3] and it may live and forage almost entirely underground.[4]
In its natural habitat of Michoacán, the pocket gopher has been reported to cause damage to avocado trees and mutilate young trees in reforestation projects, as well as wreak structural damage on roads, building sites, and irrigation canals.[5]
The habitat requirements of the Michoacan pocket gopher are very specific, and where agriculture replaces the native woodland in which it lives, it is restricted to higher altitudes and tends to be replaced by other species of pocket gopher (Pappogeomys).[6] Its total area of occurrence is less than 5,000 km2 (1,900 sq mi), its range is fragmented, and its population is declining, and the IUCN has listed it as "endangered".[1]
The Michoacan pocket gopher (Zygogeomys trichopus) is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is monotypic within the genus Zygogeomys. It is endemic to Mexico where its natural habitat is temperate, high-altitude forests. Its numbers are declining and it is listed by the IUCN as "endangered".
