Megascapheus laticeps, the Northern California Pocket Gopher, occurs in California and Oregon. Its original description records a broad head and large feet, reddish-yellow-brown fur with dark tips along the back, and a grayish-white tail that is darker above.
Baird’s original description gives the gopher a broad skull and short muzzle. Its feet are very large and broad, while the foreclaws are small and slender. The upper fur is reddish yellow-brown, with dark tips prominent across the back and a nearly even color on the sides. The underside has reddish tips. The tail is grayish white and dark above, and the cheek pouches are lined with hair.
The northwestern California coastal form described in 1933 under the name Thomomys bottae laticeps occupied open, level sandy or alluvial ground west of the outer Coast Ranges. It was known a few miles inland along larger river valleys. A 2016 soil-map analysis linked to specimens under that name characterized their localities as having medium clay content, high sand content, and low bulk density.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.