Yellow-faced Pocket Gopher

The yellow-faced pocket gopher (Cratogeomys castanops) is a species of pocket gopher that is native to shortgrass prairies in the south-western United States and northern Mexico. It is the species that lives north of the Southern Coahuila Filter-Barrier (SCFB). Among the different species, the yellow-faced pocket gopher has a small to medium-sized skull. The fossil of this genus was recorded from the pre-Pleistocene Benson Beds of Arizona. The yellow-faced pocket gopher has a yellowish-brown coat, a short tail, and one deep groove down the anterior middle of each incisor. == Form and function == Adults of C. castanops in Texas begin to molt in August and continue through March. The new pelage was found to be thicker, but had no change in color. In Kansas, semiannual molts in adults have been reported: Molt from winter to summer early in the spring Molt in autumn in September and October There is sexual dimorphism in the yellow-faced pocket gophers; the males are larger than the females. The males of all genera of pocket gophers continue to grow after attaining sexual maturity, but females grow little after reaching sexual maturity. == Ontogeny and reproduction == The reproductive activity of yellow-faced pocket gophers start…