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Gopherus agassizii (COOPER, 1861)

IUCN Red List - Gopherus agassizii - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise, (Californian) Desert Tortoise
S: Galápago del Desierto 
SynonymXerobates agassizii COOPER 1861
Testudo agassizii — BOULENGER 1889
Gopherus agassizii — STEJNEGER 1893
Gopherus polyphemus agassizii — MERTENS & WERMUTH 1955
Gopherus agassizii — STEBBINS 1985: 104
Xerobates lepidocephalus OTTLEY & VELÁZQUES SOLIS 1989
Gopherus agassizii — LINER 1994
Gopherus agassizii — CROTHER 2000
Gopherus agassizii — TTWG 2014
Gopherus agassizii — TTWG 2021 
DistributionUSA (S Nevada, SW California, W Arizona, New Mexico),
Mexico (N Baja California)

Xerobates lepidocephalus: Sierra San Vincente region, approx. 1.5 km north of the Buena Mujer Dam, 20 km (by air) south of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Type locality: mountains near Fort Mojave, California. Restricted to “California, San Bernardino County; Mountains of California, near Fort Mojave; Soda Valley (very approximately 35° 6' N, 116° 6' W), by MURPHY et al. 2011.  
ReproductionOviparous. Gopherus agassizii can hybridize with Gopherus berlandieri (Edwards et al. 2010). Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). 
TypesLectotype: USNM 7888 (designated by MURPHY et al. 2011)
Holotype: BYU 39706 [G. lepidocephalus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentThe date of publication is 1861, rather than 1863 (MURPHY et al. 2011).

Genome: A draft genome and transcriptome has been published by Tollis et al. 2017. Scott et al. 2020 show that genomic heterozygosity improves survival and adaptability in nature.

Distribution: not in Sonora (including Tiburon Island in the Gulf of California) fide Lemos-Espinal et al. 2019. Not in Sinaloa (Lemos-Espinal & Smith 2020). 
EtymologyNamed after Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), Swiss zoologist. See Bastos & Sa 2011 for further biographical details. 
References
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  • Van Denburgh, John and Joseph R. Slevin 1913. A list of the amphibians and reptiles of Arizona, with notes on the species in the collection of the Academy. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 3 (13): 391-454 - get paper here
  • Van Devender, T.R., K.B. Moodie & A.H. Harris 1976. The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizi) in the Pleistocene of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert Herpetologica 32 (3): 298-304. - get paper here
  • Vlachos, E. and Rabi, M. 2018. Total evidence analysis and body size evolution of extant and extinct tortoises (Testudines: Cryptodira: Pan-Testudinidae). Cladistics 34: 652–683, doi:10.1111/cla.12227 - get paper here
  • Walde, A D; Jones, C & Trageser, S 2018. Gopherus agassizii (Mohave Desert Tortoise) Burrow associate. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 318-319 - get paper here
  • Walde, Andrew D. 2014. TSA teams up with the Marines for Desert Tortoise research. Turtle Survival 2014: 55-56 - get paper here
  • WALDE, ANDREW D. & DAVID K. DELANEY. 2021. GOPHERUS AGASSIZII (Mohave Desert Tortoise). BURROW ASSOCIATE. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 629–630. - get paper here
  • Walde, Andrew D., Angela M. Walde and A. Peter Woodman. 2016. Gopherus agassizii (Mojave Desert Tortoise) Burrow associate. Herpetological Review 47 (1): 121-122 - get paper here
  • Walde, Andrew D., Meagan L. Harless, David K. Delaney and Larry L. Pater. 2006. Gopherus agassizii Diet. Herpetological Review 37 (1): 77-78 - get paper here
  • Walde, Andrew D.; Andrea Currylow 2015. Gopherus agassizii (Mojave Desert Tortoise) and Coleonyx variegatus variegatus (Desert Banded Gecko). Spring Burrow Cohabitation. Herpetology Notes 8: 501-502 - get paper here
  • Walde, Andrew D.; Andrea Currylow, Angela M. Walde 2015. Discovery of a new burrow associate of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), the Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii). Herpetology Notes 8: 107-109 - get paper here
  • Walde, Angela M., Andrew D. Walde and Charlie Jones. 2014. Gopherus agassizii (Mohave Desert tortoise) and Crotalus mitchelli (speckled rattlesnake) burrow associate. Herpetological Review 45 (4): 688 - get paper here
  • Wallis, I.R., B.T. Henen & K.A. Nagy 1999. Egg Size and Annual Egg Production by Female Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii): The Importance of Food Abundance, Body Size, and Date of Egg Shelling Journal of Herpetology 33 (3): 394-408. - get paper here
  • Webster, Timothy H.; Greer A. Dolby, Melissa Wilson Sayres, Kenro Kusumi 2017. Improved draft of the Mojave Desert tortoise genome, Gopherus agassizii, version 1.1. PeerJ Preprints - get paper here
  • Weitzman, C.L., F.C. Sandmeier & C.R. Tracy 2017. Prevalence and Diversity of the Upper Respiratory Pathogen Mycoplasma agassizii in Mojave Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) Herpetologica 73 (2): 113-120. - get paper here
  • Werning, Heiko 2012. Die Reptilien und Amphibien des Südwestens. Draco 13 (50): 18-60 - get paper here
  • Wilson, D.S. et al. 2003. Estimating age of turtles from growth rings: a critical evaluation of the technique. Herpetologica 59 (2): 178-194 - get paper here
  • Wilson, D.S., D.J. Morafka, C.R. Tracy & K.A. Nagy 1999. Winter Activity of Juvenile Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in the Mojave Desert Journal of Herpetology 33 (3): 496-501. - get paper here
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  • Winchell, S. & Love, B. 2006. Die Landschildkröten Nordamerikas. Ein Überblick über die Gattung Gopherus. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (62): 20-27 - get paper here
  • Wirt, B. 2011. Desert Tortoise - Gopherus agassizii. Sonoran Herpetologist 24 (6):56-58. - get paper here
  • Woodbury, Angus Munn;Hardy, Ross 1948. Studies of the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii. Ecological Monographs 18 (2): 146-200 - get paper here
 
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