Cherrie's pocket gopher (''Heterogeomys cherriei'') is a species of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...
in the family
Geomyidae. It is found in
Honduras,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
, and
Costa Rica.
It is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
.
Some authors classify it in the genus ''
Orthogeomys
The giant pocket gopher (''Orthogeomys grandis'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. It is the type species of the genus ''Orthogeomys''; some zoologists also include in ...
'', but recent research has allowed this and its related species to be classified in the genus ''
Heterogeomys
''Heterogeomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Geomyidae, found in Mexico, Central America and Colombia. ''Heterogeomys'' are a small genus of rodents commonly known as pocket gophers, though the term applies to all genera within the fami ...
''.
Taxonomy
Traditionally, the species is subdivided into three subspecies:
* ''Orthogeomys cherriei carlosensis''
(Goodwin, 1934)
* ''Orthogeomys cherriei cherriei''
(J. A. Allen, 1893)
* ''Orthogeomys cherriei costaricensis''
(Merriam, 1895)
Recent study has allowed the identification of a fourth subspecies, previously considered as a separate species:
* ''Heterogeomys cherriei matagalpae''
J. A. Allen, 1910, geographically isolated subspecies found in Honduras and Nicaragua.
References
Heterogeomys
Gopher, Cherrie's pocket
Mammals described in 1893
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
{{Geomyidae-stub