Researchers often must capture or trap and physically handle wild animal species to obtain basic morphometric, physiological, or health data. Although these activities affect glucocorticoid levels in ...

Few other creatures play as important a role in Florida’s ecology as the gopher tortoise. The slow-moving animal, which has been likened to the movie character E.T., performs an invaluable service ...

Female Gopherus polyphemus in N Florida mature at 10-15 years of age and 220-230 mm plastron length (approximately 1700 to 1950 g). Vitellogenesis begins in September and continues until the following ...

A gopher tortoise admitted to the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Sanibel is likely the largest on state record, according to wildlife officials. The male Gopherus polyphemus ...

(Editor’s note: This is the last of three columns describing Cornett’s experiences during a recent trip to Florida.) The rocks were moving. But I wasn’t looking at rocks. The round, dark gray objects ...

Before computers, roads, farming and language, while we were still burning ourselves trying to control fire, the gopher tortoise was here, burrowing in the sandy soils of a Florida that was nearly ...

This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...

In previously unstudied gopher tortoise aggregations, researchers found that overall, 42.9 percent had circulating antibodies to an infectious bacterium that causes upper respiratory tract disease.

I was surprised when I first saw the gopher tortoise on the concrete path by our porch. I figured it must have wandered there by mistake. Then I saw it again the next day. This time, the tortoise was ...