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Gopherus polyphemus (DAUDIN, 1801)

IUCN Red List - Gopherus polyphemus - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: (Florida) Gopher Tortoise
G: Florida Gopherschildkröte 
SynonymTestudo polyphemus DAUDIN 1801: 256
Testudo depressa GUÉRIN-MÉNEVILLE 1829
Testudo Polyphemus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 104
Testudo gopher GRAY 1844
Testudo Polyphemus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 220
Gopherus polyphemus — STEJNEGER 1893
Gopherus polyphemus polyphemus, MERTENS & WERMUTH 1955
Gopherus polyphemus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 74
Gopherus polyphemus — CROTHER 2000
Gopherus polyphemus — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2004
Gopherus polyphemus — TTWG 2014
Gopherus polyphemus — TTWG 2021 
DistributionUSA (along the Atlantic Coastal Plain in S South Carolina, Georgia, S Alabama, Florida, E Louisiana, Mississippi)

Type locality: vicinity of Savannah, Georgia (restricted by K.P. SCHMIDT 1953)  
Reproductionoviparous. Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). 
TypesSyntypes: unlocated (Iverson 1992: 261) 
Diagnosis 
CommentGopherus agassizii and G. berlandieri have been considered as subspecies of G. polyphemus previously.

Distribution: See map in Winchell (2006).

Type species: Testudo polyphemus DAUDIN 1802: 256 is the type species of the genus Gopherus RAFINESQUE 1832: 64. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek polyphemus, a cave-dwelling giant in Greek mythology.

The genus was apparently named after French “gaufre” for a small burrowing animal. 
References
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  • Allen, E. Ross; Neill, Wilfred T. 1953. Juveniles of the tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus. Copeia 1953 (2): 128 - get paper here
  • Allen, Morrow J. 1932. A survey of the Amphibians and reptiles of Harrison County, Mississippi. American Museum Novitates (542): 1-20 - get paper here
  • Aresco, M.J. & C. Guyer 1998. Efficacy of Using Scute Annuli to Determine Growth Histories and Age of Gopherus polyphemus in Southern Alabama Copeia 1998 (4): 1094-1100. - get paper here
  • Aresco, M.J. & C. Guyer 1999. Growth of the Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus in Slash Pine Plantations of Southcentral Alabama Herpetologica 55 (4): 499-506. - get paper here
  • Ashton Ray E. & Patrica Ashton 2008. THE NATURAL HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE GOPHER TORTOISE (GOPHERUS POLYPHEMUS DAUDIN). Krieger Publishing Company, 288 pp.
  • Ashton, K.G., B.M. Engelhardt & B.S. Branciforte 2008. Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Abundance and Distribution after Prescribed Fire Reintroduction to Florida Scrub and Sandhill at Archbold Biological Station Journal of Herpetology 42 (3): 523-529. - get paper here
  • Ashton, R.E., Jr., and Ashton, P.S. 2008. Natural History and Management of the Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus. Krieger Publishing Company, 275 pp.
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  • Castellón, Traci D.; Betsie B. Rothermel, and Javan M. Bauder 2018. Gopher Tortoise Burrow Use, Home Range, Seasonality, and Habitat Fidelity in Scrub and Mesic Flatwoods of Southern Florida. Herpetologica 74 (1): 8-21. - get paper here
  • Castellón, Traci D.; Betsie B. Rothermel, and Saif Z. Nomani 2012. Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Burrow Densities in Scrub and Flatwoods Habitats of Peninsular Florida. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2012, Vol. 11, No. 2: 153-161. - get paper here
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  • Catano, Christopher P.; James J. Angelo, and I. Jack Stout 2014. Sample Grain Influences the Functional Relationship Between Canopy Cover and Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Burrow Abandonment. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2014, Vol. 13, No. 2: 166-172. - get paper here
  • Cherry, Michael J., Paige Howell, Robert J. Warren and Mike Conner. 2015. Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise) coyotes denning in gopher tortois burrow. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 618 - get paper here
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  • DeGregorio, Brett A.; Kurt A. Buhlmann, and Tracey D. Tuberville 2012. Overwintering of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) Translocated to the Northern Limit of Their Geographic Range: Temperatures, Timing, and Survival. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 11 (1): 84-90. - get paper here
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  • Diemer, J.E. 1992. Home Range and Movements of the Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus in Northern Florida Journal of Herpetology 26 (2): 158-165. - get paper here
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  • DONINI, JORDAN; J. SEAN DOODY, MEGHAN CRAFT, REBECCA SPEER & GEORGE L. HEINRICH. 2021. TERRAPENE BAURI (Florida Box Turtle) and GOPHERUS POLYPHEMUS (Gopher Tortoise). BURROW ASSOCIATE and REPRODUCTION. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 635–636. - get paper here
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  • Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S. - get paper here
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  • Figueroa, Adrian; James Lange & Steven M. Whitfield 2021. Seed Consumption by Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in the Globally Imperiled Pine Rockland Ecosystem of Southern Florida, USA. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Jun 2021 Vol. 20, No. 1: 27-34 - get paper here
  • Goessling, J.M., M.T. Mendonca & A.G. Appel 2018. Assessment of Seasonal Metabolic Acclimation in Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus): Does Dormancy Reduce Metabolic Rate? Copeia 106 (1): 56-62. - get paper here
  • Goessling, Jeffrey M.; Katherine Rebois, James C. Godwin, Roger Birkhead, Christopher M. Murray, and Sharon M. Hermann 2017. Differences in Fluctuating Asymmetry Among Four Populations of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetological Conservation and Biology 12 (2) - get paper here
  • Goin, C.J. & C.C. Goff 1941. Notes on the Growth Rate of the Gopher Turtle, Gopherus polyphemus Herpetologica 2 (3): 66-68. - get paper here
  • Graham, Sean P., David A. Steen and David J. Printiss. 2015. Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise) burrow associate. Herpetological Review 46 (2): 244 - get paper here
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  • Guyer, Craig; Valerie M. Johnson, and Sharon M. Hermann 2012. Effects of Population Density On Patterns of Movement and Behavior of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetological Monographs 26 (1): 122-134. - get paper here
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  • Harper, Francis 1940. Some works of Bartram, Daudin, Latreille, and Sonnini, and their bearing upon North American herpetological nomenclature. American Midland Naturalist 23 (3): 692-723 - get paper here
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  • Jamniczky, H. A. and A. P. Russell 2007. Reappraisal of Patterns of Nonmarine Cryptodiran Turtle Carotid Circulation: Evidence From Osteological Correlates and Soft Tissues. Journal of Morphology 268:571–587 - get paper here
  • Jensen, John B.; Carlos D. Camp, Whit Gibbons, & Matt J. Elliott 2008. Amphibians and reptiles of Georgia. University of Georgia Press, 575 pp.
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  • Johnson, Valerie M.; Craig Guyer, Sharon M. Hermann, Jeannine Eubanks, and William K. Michener 2009. Patterns of disperson and burrow use support scramble competition polygyny in Gopherus polyphemus. Herpetologica 65 (2): 214-218 - get paper here
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  • Knapp, Daniel D.; Jennifer M. Howze, Chris M. Murphy, Michelina C. Dziadzio, and Lora L. Smith 2018. Prescribed Fire Affects Diurnal Vertebrate Use of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Burrows in a Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) Forest. Herp. Cons. Biol. 13 (3): 551–557 - get paper here
  • Lamb, Blake D.; Corey D. Anderson, Colleen M. Mcdonough, J. Mitchell Lockhart & Zachary P. Butler 2023. A Comparison of Vertebrate Associates of Gopher Tortoise and Nine-Banded Armadillo Burrows in South Georgia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2023 Vol. 22, No. 2: 184-196 - get paper here
  • Lamb, Jennifer Y.; Joshua R. Ennen, and Carl P. Qualls 2013. Environmental Characteristics of Nest Sites Selected by Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in Southern Mississippi. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2013, Vol. 12, No. 2: 227-234. - get paper here
  • Lamb, Trip;Avise, John C.;Gibbons, J. Whitfield 1989. Phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial DNA of the desert tortoise (Xerobates agassizi), and evolutionary relationships among the North American gopher tortoises. Evolution 43 (1): 76-87 - get paper here
  • Lamb, Trip;Lydeard, Charles 1994. A molecular phylogeny of the gopher tortoises, with comments on familial relationships within the Testudinoidea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 3 (4): 283-291 - get paper here
  • Landers, J.L., J.A. Garner & W.A. McRae 1980. Reproduction of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in Southwestern Georgia Herpetologica 36 (4): 353-361. - get paper here
  • Lee, James R. and Stephen C. Richter. 2014. Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise) predation. Herpetological Review 45 (3): 484 - get paper here
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  • Lohoefener, R. & L. Lohmeier 1981. Comparison of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Habitats in Young Slash Pine and Old Longleaf Pine Areas of Southern Mississippi Journal of Herpetology 15 (2): 239-242. - get paper here
  • Lönnberg, Einar 1894. Notes on reptiles and batrachians collected in Florida in 1892 and 1893. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 17 (1003): 317-339 - get paper here
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  • Metzger, Cheryl J. 2013. Python molurus bivittatus (Burmese python) habitat use / occurrence within Gopherus polyphemus burrows. Herpetological Review 44 (2): 333-334 - get paper here
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  • Mrykalo, Robert, Gregory Juszli, Garren Mezza and James Southerland. 2016. Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) Size. Herpetological Review 47 (2): 284-285 - get paper here
  • Mushinsky, H.R. & McCoy, E.D. 2006. Gopherus polyphemus - The Gopher tortoise. Reptilia (GB) (49): 16-21 - get paper here
  • Mushinsky, H.R. & McCoy, E.D. 2006. Die Gopherschildkröte (Gopherus polyphemus). Reptilia (Münster) 11 (62): 35-40 - get paper here
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  • Mushinsky, H.R.; Stilson, T.A. & McCoy, E.D. 2003. Diet and dietary preference of the juvenile Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetologica 59 (4): 475-483 - get paper here
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  • Noel, Krista M; Carl P Qualls, and Joshua R Ennen 2012. A Comparison of Artificial Incubation and Natural Incubation Hatching Success of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Eggs In Southern Mississippi. Herpetologica 68 (3): 324-333. - get paper here
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  • Radzio, Thomas A.; James A. Cox, and Michael P. O’Connor 2017. Behavior and Conspecific Interactions of Nesting Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) [Supplementary Videos] Herpetological Conservation and Biology 12 (2) - get paper here
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