FLYING SQUIRREL HYBRIDISATION RIDDLE

http://www.peterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1615613

Flying squirrels on the move as weather warms

Posted By SARAH DEETH/Examiner Staff Writer
Posted 8 hours ago


Flying squirrels are hybridizing, and it could be an indication of the species’ attempt to adapt to climate change, according to researchers at Trent University.

Ph.D. student Colin Garroway, in the environmental and life sciences graduate program, said southern flying squirrels, located in the Dorset area, are increasingly moving to the northern edge of Algonquin Park as winters get warmer.

Those southern flying squirrels are breeding with northern flying squirrels, and creating fertile offspring, he said.

Southern flying squirrels are smaller than their northern counterparts, Garroway said.

They’re also more aggressive and carry a parasite that doesn’t hurt them but affects northern flying squirrels.

The study, led by Trent with involvement from two universities in Pennsylvania, one in Alberta and the Ministry of Natural Resources, is the first to notice the hybridization in the species.

Garroway said he’s been involved with the project for three years, but it’s been ongoing since about 2001.

The two closely related species had little overlap before the southern flying squirrel began its migration, Garroway said.

Because of the overlap and resulting interbreeding, scientists may see a mix-up in the species’ genetic diversity, he said.

Garroway said it’s hard to say if this is good or bad news for the species.

If people are causing climate change, he said, then it’s evidence of an adverse affect on the natural world.

But scientists could also be seeing the beginnings of a species adapting and evolving to the changing climate around them, he said.

“Instead of flying squirrels going extinct, perhaps they could exist as a hybridized species,” he said.