NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Attwater's Pocket Gopher
Geomys attwateri Merriam, 1895
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
![Attwater’s pocket gopher (Geomys attwateri) from Colorado County, Texas, USA: found on Weishuhn Road [County Road 52], 29.8271°N, 96.4812°W, 117 m., 12 May 2014.
The identification of this Pocket Gopher is based on geographic distribution in Schmidly, David J. 1994. The Mammals of Texas, 6th ed. University of Texas Press, Austin. xviii, 501 pp. and Reid, Fiona A. 2006. A Field Guide to Mammals of North America 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. xix, 579 pp.](/assets/optimized/1328af8150f172621544503258aa337aff07cc5ded9cf575a9ab801428b93143.webp)
Attwater’s pocket gopher (Geomys attwateri) from Colorado County, Texas, USA: found on Weishuhn Road [County Road 52], 29.8271°N, 96.4812°W, 117 m., 12 May 2014. The identification of this Pocket Gopher is based on geographic distribution in Schmidly, David J. 1994. The Mammals of Texas, 6th ed. University of Texas Press, Austin. xviii, 501 pp. and Reid, Fiona A. 2006. A Field Guide to Mammals of North America 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. xix, 579 pp.
William L. Farr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Attwater's pocket gopher (Geomys attwateri) is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to the Texas Coastal Bend in the southcentral United States.
This species was named in honor of English naturalist Henry Philemon Attwater.
Wikipedia contributors, Attwater's pocket gopher; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:41:59.434600+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Geomys attwateri Merriam, 1895
- Name authority
- Merriam, 1895
- Common name
- Attwater's Pocket Gopher
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Geomyidae
- Genus
- Geomys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderCastorimorpha A. E. Wood, 1955
- familyGeomyidae Bonaparte, 1845
- subfamilyGeomyinae Bonaparte, 1845
- tribeGeomyini Bonaparte, 1845
- genusGeomys Rafinesque, 1817
- speciesGeomys attwateri Merriam, 1895
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Geomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hall's Pocket GopherGeomys jugossicularis Hooper, 1940 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jones' pocket gopherGeomys knoxjonesi Baker & Genoways, 1975 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Texas Pocket GopherGeomys personatus True, 1889 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Strecker's Pocket GopherGeomys streckeri Davis, 1943 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Central Texas Pocket GopherGeomys texensis Merriam, 1895 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desert Pocket GopherGeomys arenarius Merriam, 1895 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Baird's Pocket GopherGeomys breviceps Baird, 1855 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Plains Pocket GopherGeomys bursarius (Shaw, 1800) | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sand Hills Pocket GopherGeomys lutescens Merriam, 1890 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South-eastern Pocket GopherGeomys pinetis Rafinesque, 1817 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tropical Pocket GopherGeomys tropicalis Goldman, 1915 | GeomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552516 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3FQBS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.