Geomys lutescens

Geomys lutescens, also known as the Sand Hills pocket gopher, is a species of pocket gopher native to the western United States (Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, and Nebraska).^[1] It is a fossorial rodent that inhabits the Mississippi basin. The common name is derived from the type locality of Sand Hills.^[2]

Sand Hills pocket gopher
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Geomyidae
Genus:	Geomys
Species:	G. lutescens
Binomial name
Geomys lutescens Merriam, 1890
Synonyms
Geomys bursarius lutescens Merriam, 1890

Taxonomy

Authors have debated for decades whether this is a distinct species or a subspecies of the plains pocket gopher.^[3] Recent genetic evidence and the lack of gene flow from other gopher populations has supported this being a distinct species and a sister species to Hall's pocket gopher.^[4]

The subspecies G. l. jugossicularis was recently split from the Sand Hills pocket gopher as its own distinct species. The other subspecies, G. l. halli, was later found to be a subspecies of Hall's pocket gopher, leaving this species with no subspecies.^[1]