Herpetofauna: One Life's List

Gopherus lepidocephalus
Sierra Madre Tortoise

Sonora, Mexico
August 23, 2011

I may be jumping the gun, but the tortoises we saw in southern Sonora are genetically distinct from Gopherus morafkai, the Sonoran Desert Tortoise.  When they are described, chances are that G. lepidocephalus will be used as the precedent name.  I refer to them as the Sierra Madre Tortoise, since we found them up in the mountains at about 1800 feet, in tropical deciduous forest.