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Gopher Tortoise — printable fact sheet
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Gopher Tortoise
Gopherus polyphemus
Gopherus polyphemus is the engineer of the longleaf pine sandhills of the southeastern United States, and its importance lies underground. Using shovel-like, flattened forelimbs it excavates burrows averaging 4.5 m long and 2 m deep, sometimes far longer, which hold a stable tem…
Did you know?
- Gopher tortoises are considered a keystone species because their burrows are critical to the survival of many other animals in their ecosystem.
- Gopher tortoise burrows have their own weather: the deep end stays near 20 C while the sand surface above bakes past 50 C. Sex is set by incubation temperature, so a shaded nest and a sunlit nest a metre apart can produce entirely different sexes. They are one of only four native North American tortoise species, and the only one east of the Mississippi.
What I learned
Draw the gopher tortoise
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