Melanistic Fox Squirrel

Not all individuals are the color that their names would indicate.

Melanistic fox squirrel. The selective advantage of melanism is currently unknown but thermal advantages have been hypothesized especially in winter. Several theories have surfaced as to why the black morph occurs with some suggesting that the black morph is a selective advantage for squirrels inhabiting the northern ranges o. The fox squirrel sciurus niger also known as the eastern fox squirrel or bryant s fox squirrel is the largest species of tree squirrel native to north america despite the differences in size and coloration they are sometimes mistaken for american red squirrels or eastern gray squirrels in areas where the species co exist. Melanism is a genetic trait an abnormality something akin to the more familiar albinism.

Here is a post about them from long ago. Black squirrels are a melanistic subgroup of squirrels with black coloration on their fur. I ve seen variations on all of these colors. Melanism manifests as an excess in melanin pigmentation as opposed to the lack of this pigment that occurs with albinos.

These squirrels are considered leucistic or partially albinistic. Melanistic fox squirrels sciurus niger have expanded westward and increased in frequency in the omaha nebraska and council bluffs iowa metropolitan areas. A typical fox squirrel is a beautiful mammal with a deeply orange pelage. The same term is used to describe black panthers which are actually melanistic leopards or jaguars.

Melanistic gray squirrels appear glossier and more uniformly black than does this one with a less robust tail head and neck and a skinnier gestalt. It is likely that the melanistic squirrels seen in the amherst southwick and springfield areas are related to the westfield squirrels. A melanistic fox squirrel will present as a black or near black color morph. Eastern gray squirrels come in three distinct phases.

Melanism can be found in a variety of species including whitetail deer wolves rattlesnakes and even some butterflies. The phenomenon occurs with several species of squirrels although it is most frequent with the eastern gray squirrel and the fox squirrel. Melanism uniform dark brown or black colouration over the whole body occurs at low frequency less than 1 across most of the range of both fox squirrels and gray squirrels 26 27. Black morphs of the eastern gray and fox squirrels are the result of a faulty pigment gene.

Melanistic fox squirrels are known to occur just in far fewer numbers than grays. Eastern gray squirrels are a bit like red foxes american black bears and gray wolves. Normal gray melanistic black and albino. The scientific term for unusually dark coloration is melanism.