Different squirrel species?
Posted by Nicole Verra on April 15, 2007
Q: Hello, I go to college in Fredonia, NY and the other day while driving on campus I saw a black squirrel near a wooded area. Is this squirrel a different species than the normal gray squirrels in this area or is it a genetic trait? Thanks for your time.
State: New York
A: Good question. Yes, Nicole, what you saw was a melanistic form of the Eastern Gray Squirrel. Melanism is the dark or black appearance that results from the production of large amounts of the dark pigment melanin. Melanistic gray squirrels are quite common in some urban and suburban areas where lack of predation keeps them from being "weeded out" of the breeding population.
Mark Baldwin ( April 16, 2007)
Filed under: Mammals