From mb5199@coewl.cen.uiuc.edu Thu Apr 7 05:51:25 1994 Received: from eehpx20.cen.uiuc.edu by dynamic.slip.uiuc.edu with SMTP id AA32282 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for roth); Thu, 7 Apr 1994 11:04:31 -0500 Return-Path: Received: by eehpx20.cen.uiuc.edu id AA29115 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for roth@dynamic.slip.uiuc.edu); Thu, 7 Apr 1994 10:51:26 -0500 Received: by eehpx20.cen.uiuc.edu id AA29111 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for roth@uiuc.edu); Thu, 7 Apr 1994 10:51:25 -0500 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 10:51:25 -0500 X-Ph: V3.12@eehpx20 From: Michael B Blumenthal Message-Id: <199404071551.AA29111@eehpx20.cen.uiuc.edu> Subject: I just had to send this to you... Content-Type: text/plain Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Courtesy-Of: NCSA Mosaic 2.1 on HP-UX X-Url: gopher://stu.beloit.edu/00/welcome/taxonomy Apparently-To: u13611@uicvm.uic.edu Apparently-To: roth@uiuc.edu Status: RO Subject: Family Sciuridae: Spermophilous tridecemlineatus The Internet Gopher has been caught tunnelling under the erroneous appellation "Geomys," a western hemisphere group of burrowing, underground rodents. Investigations by David J. Merrell, Emeritus Professor, University of Minnesota and Harvard alum '48, with help from Mammal Collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology has revealed that the University of Minnesota "Gopher" mascot upon which the buck-toothed, floppy-eared Internet Gopher is based, is not a Geomys in the family Geomyidae at all, but a member of the squirrel family Sciuridae: the Internet Gopher is named for the 13-lined Ground Squirrel. The 13-lined Ground Squirrel, known among taxonomists as *Spermophilous tridecemlineatus* because of its predilection for scarfing seeds and the 13 racing stripes on its back, ranges from the upper-midwest, from Michigan west to Montana, throughout the Great Plains and then south to New Mexico and Texas. Its confused relative, *Geomys bursarius*, the Plains Pocket Gopher, in the family Geomyidae, burrows much of the same territory but unlike (above-ground) ground squirrels, does most of its foraging underground. To clarify this confused situation, the Biodiversity and Biological Collections Gopher offers this graphical representation of Gopher relatives: ______________ ____________ ______________ _____________ | | | | | Old World | | New World | | Pocket Mice | | Beavers | | Mice and Rats| | Mice | |______________| |____________| |______________| |_____________| | _________________ | _____________________ | _______________ | | |GEOMYIDAE: True | | |SCIURIDAE: Chipmunks | | | Kangaroo Rats | | | |Gophers including| | |Woodchucks, Squirrels| | | (Australian | | | | Geomys | | |THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND| | | Gophers?) | | | |_________________| | |SQUIRREL_____________| | |_______________| | _|_____|________________|________________|________|___________|_______|_ | | | R O D E N T S (include the above groups and more) | |________________________________________________________________________| _____________ | _________________________ | | | |CARNIVORES: Dogs, Cats, | | Rabbits | | | Weasels, Skunks, Otters,| |_____________| | | Badgers, Wolverines, | | | |_Team Gopher ____________| ____________|___________________|_____________________|_________________ | | | M A M M A L S (include the above and more!) | |________________________________________________________________________| Also connect to the Biodiversity and Biological Collections Gopher at huh.harvard.edu (70). Under: Biodiversity Information Resources/ The Internet Gopher: a Ground Squirrel/ we have images of the true Pocket Gopher (Geomys) and the namesake of the Internet Gopher the ground squirrel (Spermophilous). It may be interesting to note that: "Gopher" is also a common name for other species of ground squirrels throughout the U. S. In Florida, Gopher is the common name of a tortoise, and true Gophers (mammals in the genus Geomys) are called "Salamanders." See the need for taxonomists? _________________________________________________________________________ James H. Beach beach@huh.harvard.edu Data Administrator Tel: (617) 495-1912 MCZ, Herbaria, Arnold Arboretum Fax: (617) 495-9484 22 Divinity Avenue Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138, USA