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Glite Dictionary
Gopherus agassizii

Gopherus agassizii

9.9
A burrowing tortoise that lives in dry deserts of the western United States and northern Mexico
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Gopherus agassizii
  • The Gopherus agassizii is well adapted to surviving the harsh desert environment.

Examples

  • Many conservation programs have been launched to protect the habitat of Gopherus agassizii.

  • Researchers are monitoring the population of Gopherus agassizii to ensure its continued survival.

  • The Gopherus agassizii is an endangered species.

  • Have you ever seen a Gopherus agassizii in the wild?

  • Many conservation programs have been launched to protect the habitat of Gopherus agassizii.

  • Researchers are monitoring the population of Gopherus agassizii to ensure its continued survival.

  • The Gopherus agassizii is well adapted to surviving the harsh desert environment.

Synonyms

desert tortoise
vsGopherus agassizii
  • US
1 6.0

A large land turtle with a round shell that lives in burrows to escape desert heat

is the scientific species name used rather than the common name

Surface Forms

Gopherus agassizii singular
Gopherus agassizii plural

Morphology

Gopherus + agassizii

This is a Latin binomial (taxonomic) name: both parts are proper names/labels rather than semantically compositional words, and the specific epithet 'agassizii' conveys no ordinary lexical meaning. A B1 learner who knows the constituent forms would not be able to derive the common meaning 'desert tortoise' without specialist/domain knowledge, so the expression is not transparently interpretable.

Etymology

Gopherus agassizii comes from two parts: Gopherus, meaning 'gopher-like' because the tortoise digs and lives in burrows, and agassizii, which honors the scientist Agassiz who studied the species. So the name reminds us that it is a 'burrowing' or 'desert tortoise'.