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Reptilia    Testudines    Testudinidae  

Mojave Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizii (Cooper, 1861)

Current SSAR Comments:
Crother (2017, Herpetological Circulars (43): 102) changed the name "Mojave Desert Tortoise" to "Mohave Desert Tortoise to be consistent with the standard English names of several other taxa while recognizing that both names are acceptable (detailed on page 64). With respect to this turtle, "Mojave" is in the greatest usage (e.g., Rhodin et al. (2021, Chelonian Research Monographs (8): 1–472)) and the standard English name Mojave Desert Tortoise is retained.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.21.20.38)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.92 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Agassiz's Land Tortoise (Xerobates agassizii: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Land Tortoise (Xerobates agassizii: Cooper, James G. 1869. The naturalist in California. The American Naturalist 3(9):470-481); Agassiz's Gopher (Xerobates agassizi: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Western Gopher Turtle (Gopherus agassizi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1861 Cooper, J. G. New Californian animals. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science 2():118-123
2017 Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
2021 Rhodin, Anders G. J., John B. Iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur Georges, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk. Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: First checklist and review of extinct pleistocene and holocene chelonians. Chelonian Research Monographs (8):1-472

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:27 CT