page_title: Gopherus
section_title: Conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Gopherus / Conservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Texas Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri), northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. Photographed on 9 July 2007 by William L. Farr.
context_page_description: Gopherus is a genus of fossorial tortoises commonly referred to as gopher tortoises. The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America. A genetic study has shown that their closest relatives are in the Asian genus Manouria.
  The gopher tortoises live in the southern United States from California's Mojave Desert across to Florida, and in parts of northern Mexico. Gopher tortoises are so named because of their ability to dig large, deep burrows; those of the gopher tortoise can be up to 40 feet in length and 10 feet in depth. These burrows are used by a variety of other species, including mammals, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Gopher tortoises are 20–50 cm in length, depending on the species. All six species are found in xeric habitats. Numerous extinct species are known, the oldest dating to the Priabonian stage of the Late Eocene of the United States.
context_section_description: Populations of all six species of Gopherus have declined dramatically. In the past, gopher tortoises were hunted for their meat, which was used in stews. Currently the most significant threat to their survival is habitat destruction, but the pet trade and collisions with vehicles have also taken their toll. To help decrease gopher tortoise death due to collisions with vehicles, the US Department of Transportation in Mississippi has recently placed angled fences along the road side to keep tortoise from wandering onto the highways near their habitats. On November 9, 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed rulemaking to include the eastern population of the gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, in the List of Threatened Wildlife.
caption: Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri), northern Tamaulipas, Mexico
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