Resurrection and redescription of the pocket gopherThomomys sheldonifrom the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico

Abstract

Thomomys sheldoni Bailey, 1915 is resurrected to recognize a genetically divergent clade of smooth-toothed pocket gophers that inhabits the high-elevation pine–oak forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico from northwestern Chihuahua through Durango to western Zacatecas and northeastern Nayarit. Analyses of DNA sequences from 8 genes and genotype assignment tests for 21 allozyme loci establish this clade as a genetically isolated taxon within the T. umbrinus (sensu lato) complex. In addition to the T. sheldoni clade (diploid number of 2n ¼ 76), 3 genetic clades within T. umbrinus (2n ¼ 78) and 1 newly discovered clade (2n ¼ 76) also were recovered in the phylogenetic analyses. Individuals of T. sheldoni and T. umbrinus occur in close proximity with no evidence of gene flow and an average cytochrome-b genetic divergence of 15.6%. Analyses of cranial morphology reveal that skulls of T. sheldoni are, on average, broader and longer than skulls of T. umbrinus and T. atrovarius. We recognize and provide synonymies for 2 subspecies within T. sheldoni based on a weak genetic and morphological break that is coincident with a large, north–south gap in its distribution: T. s. sheldoni in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental, which includes specimens from the type locality and populations in Durango, Zacatecas, and Nayarit; and T. s. chihuahuae in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental, which is known only from Chihuahua.