Merriam's pocket gopher is a rodent from the gopher family. It spends almost its entire life underground in burrows that it digs itself in central Mexico.
Merriam's pocket gopher differs from related species in size and preference for high-altitude soils in Mexico. It improves soil structure by digging burrows and is an important part of the local food chain.
homogamy, reproduction always with fertilization, no alternation of generations
Worker
birth time
Describes the act of excavating soil or substrate to locate or access food.
breeding
Heavy rains in summer
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
days
South and Central America, hot and humid, huge forests
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
very heavy rains in summer, almost no precipitation in winter
adult
Maturity
South and Central America, hot and humid, huge forests
About health
cool, lots of coniferous trees, snow in winter
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
Front claws size
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
Captures or processes food by biting or nipping with the mouth.
Warm winter with almost no precipitation
young shoots and sprouts
roots of plants
Upcoming birthdays
protection
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
in a burrow
Height
nest on the ground
tubers
young shoots
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (from birth to death)
Wanderers
tubers
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Tropical coniferous forest
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
roots
Lifespan average
in a terrestrial nest
Incisors color
live birth
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
nest hidden in an underground burrow
Front claws count
bulbs
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
digging
Pets
biting
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
paw
cm
Temperate coniferous forest
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
grazing
nest located directly on the ground surface on land, only the father provides parental care for the offspring
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
nest hidden in an underground burrow, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
steppe
herbivore
Describes food handling or digging performed with the forelimbs.
Feeds by cropping or nibbling low-growing vegetation or algae.
Incisors size
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
winter dry and warm
normal sexual
Taxons
if born as {name}
Front claws color
age
birth date
nips plants and digs snow with hooves
soil
rest
bulbs and rhizomes — onion, tulip, narcissus
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
Neotropical realm
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
primary food sources
Neotropical realm
teeth
burrow
Potential Habitat
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
cold winter, lots of coniferous trees: spruce, pine
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Plants
from 130 grams to 0.5 kilograms, 0.35 – 0.8 meters
land
{name} birthday
No results found
underground
On the map
young shoots, sprouts, green plant shoots
bulbs
Pleasant summer
Female ♀
all life stages
nest located directly on the ground surface on land
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
lots of grass, few trees, rains occur
Shelter used specifically for reproduction or nesting.
Maturity
Skin color
caring mother
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
hot, many coniferous trees, often in mountains
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Neither
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
caring father
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
Duration
This is me
Gamers
How are they built?
Temperate steppe
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
food storage
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Taiga
Asexual
swap
roots and plant tubers
Cheek pouches size
active predation
underground tubers — potato, cyclamen, tulip
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Denotes a grassland or steppe habitat preference.
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
cheek pouch
plant fibers
embryo
Incisors count
Zucchini
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap