''Geomys streckeri'', also known as Strecker's pocket gopher, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

pocket gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...

found in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was formerly considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

Texas pocket gopher The Texas pocket gopher (''Geomys personatus'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is found in Tamaulipas in Mexico and in Texas in the United States. Description Males grow to a length of about including a tail of about . F ...

. Chromosomal analyses have proven this species to be distinct. Analysis of its mitochondrial

cytochrome b Cytochrome b is a protein found in the membranes of aerobic cells. In eukaryotic mitochondria (inner membrane) and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiq ...

points to this species being a

sister clade In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to '' Geomys personatus'', '' Geomys attwateri'', and ''

Geomys tropicalis The tropical pocket gopher (''Geomys tropicalis'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is hot deserts. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description The tropical pocket gopher is cinnamon ...

''. Other evidence, using a

Bayesian analysis Thomas Bayes ( ; c. 1701 – 1761) was an English statistician, philosopher, and Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elde ...

ribosomal RNA Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) is a type of non-coding RNA which is the primary component of ribosomes, essential to all cells. rRNA is a ribozyme which carries out protein synthesis in ribosomes. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed from ribosomal ...

and certain

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, re ...

, points to it being embedded within the ''G. personatus'' clade and being a sister species to ''G. attwateri''. It is named after John Kern Strecker, an American herpetologist and namesake of the Strecker Museum.

References

Endemic rodents of the United States Endemic fauna of Texas Mammals described in 1943 Fauna of the Rio Grande valleys {{Geomyidae-stub