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Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)

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Edited by: William I. Boarman and K. Beaman

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Abstract

The desert tortoise is widely distributed throughout major portions of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Sonora, and Sinaloa. Genetic, morphological, ecological, and behavioral features suggest an evolutionary divergence between the tortoises found south and east of the Colorado River (“Sonoran population”), and those found north and west of the river (“Mojave population;” Lamb et al. 1989). The latter is the population Federally and State-listed as threatened. This population will be referred to in the remainder of this account. The majority of animals in the Mojave population occur at variable densities in six distinct population segments (i.e., evolutionarily significant units), each identified in the Recovery Plan for desert tortoises as separate Recovery Units (USFWS 1994).
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype Other Report
Title Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
Year Published 2002
Language English
Publisher U.S Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center
Publisher location Sacramento, CA
Contributing office(s) Western Ecological Research Center
Description United States
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype Other Report
Larger Work Title The sensitive plant and animal species of the Western Mojave Desert
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