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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Volume 11, No. 5, pp. 335-343, pls. 7 and 8 April 24, 1959
A New Tortoise, Genus Gopherus, From North-central Mexico
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Robert W. Wilson
Volume 11, No. 5, pp. 335-343 Published April 24, 1959
PRINTED IN THE STATE PRINTING PLANT TOPEKA, KANSAS 1959
A New Tortoise, Genus Gopherus, From North-central Mexico
In the course of taxonomic studies of the genus _Gopherus_ it was found that specimens from north-central Mexico belong to an hitherto unrecognized species, which is named and described below.
_Holotype._--U.S. National Museum 61253, adult; stuffed specimen with disassociated skull; 30 to 40 miles from Lerdo, Durango, Mexico; obtained by Dr. Elswood Chaffee, 1918.
_Paratypes._--USNM 61254, adult, stuffed specimen with skull in place, other data the same as those for holotype; USNM 60976, adult, stuffed specimen with disassociated skull, Lerdo, Durango, Dr. Elswood Chaffee, May 1918; University of Illinois 42953-4, adults, two carapaces, Carrillo, Chihuahua, Pete S. Chrapliwy and Kenneth L. Williams, 1 August 1958; University of Kansas 39415, adult, carapace only, 8 mi. E and 2 mi. S Americanos, Coahuila, Robert W. Dickerman, 19 May 1954.
_Diagnosis._--A large tortoise of the genus _Gopherus_, having a flat-topped, posteriorly-flared shell, carapacal laminae that are pale with contrasting dark centers (at least on the lateral margins of the carapace), intergular seam longer than interhumeral, obtuse gular projections, and a relatively wider skull than other Mexican representatives of the genus.
_Description of species._--Ground color of carapace pale yellow to straw in smaller specimens, pale brown in larger specimens; in some specimens a slight indication of darker radial markings on carapace; epidermal areolae of carapace (if present) and first two or three zones of growth (around areolae) dark brown to black, their contrast with the ground color greater in smaller specimens; ground color of lateral marginals yellowish, much paler than remainder of carapace; black areolae of marginals contrasting sharply with ground color even in old individuals; plastron pale, approximately the same shade of yellow as lateral marginals, marked with sharply contrasting blotches of black or dark brown in younger specimens, becoming immaculate with age.