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The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide shelter for at least 360 other animal species. G. polyphemus is threatened by predation and habitat ...
Gopherus is a genus of fossorial tortoises commonly referred to as gopher tortoises.The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America.
The eastern indigo snake was first described by John Edwards Holbrook in 1842. For many years the genus Drymarchon was considered monotypic with one species, Drymarchon corais, with 12 subspecies, until the early 1990s when Drymarchon corais couperi was elevated to full species status according to the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, in their official names list.
Two bordering western states, California and Nevada, chose the desert tortoise. [6] [24] The loggerhead sea turtle was named by South Carolina as state reptile, while Florida chose it as state saltwater reptile. [nb 13] [14] [45] Florida also named an official tortoise, the gopher tortoise, the same animal as Georgia's state reptile. [12] [16] [17]
Within these states, the subspecies can be found in high pinelands, sandy places, sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods on well-drained soils, and old fields on former sandhill sites. However, during drought, it seeks open habitats around wetlands. Additionally, it has been observed that, when available, it uses gopher tortoise burrows as refuge. [1]
The distribution of Amblyomma tuberculatum has been thought to be intrinsically linked to the distribution of its primary host, the gopher tortoise, but the presence of gopher tortoises does not always equate to the presence of A. tuberculatum, with only 23% of gopher tortoise populations infested with A. tuberculatum in one study, suggesting a more restricted distribution for the tick than ...
The mouse depends on the gopher tortoise (also endangered) for its survival, because it makes its burrows from tortoise burrows, or in the absence of those, oldfield mouse burrows. [182] Non-native species brought in boats by colonizers are the black rat, brown rat and house mouse.
Indigo snakes are diurnal and actively forage for prey. They feed on a broad variety of small animals such as rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, toads, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes. Indigo snakes will also eat small gopher tortoises when they are available. [5] They are not aggressive snakes and will bite only when threatened.