We posit that agouti pelage is broadly adapted to a range of heterogeneous conditions created by fire. Light-colored (less melanistic) squirrels were positively associated with increasing proportion of cropland in a fox squirrel dispersal buffer. Agouti-colored squirrels were positively associated with increased proportion of burned area in a fox squirrel dispersal buffer.
#Fox squirrel drivers#
Building upon previous research that investigated the drivers of melanism, we measured fox squirrel pelage coloration across the visible light spectrum. hereafter, fox squirrel) as a model species to investigate the role of environmental factors on pelage coloration. We used the polymorphic eastern fox squirrel ( Sciurus niger ssp. The environmental drivers of color polymorphism are poorly understood. In spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments, some species exhibit multiple distinct color patterns within a population (i.e., color polymorphism).
#Fox squirrel skin#
The color patterns of an animal’s pelage, feather, or skin serve a variety of adaptive functions importantly, one function is concealment through background matching.
Understand how are they interacting with their environment (e.g., What do they eat? When are they active? What species do they interact with?).Explore the distribution of Fox Squirrels (where they are present, or not present).Information you submit to our form will help NHMU scientists:
Click below to access the online survey form, and explore our data map. The arrival of fox squirrels offers an opportunity to study, first-hand, the ecology of an introduced species, and you can help! Our survey is open year-round. First reported in 2011 along the Jordan River in Salt Lake City, this tree squirrel has been spreading throughout northern Utah.
The fox squirrel ( Sciurus niger), a species native to the eastern US, has recently become established in Utah.
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