really surprising black squirrel to be able to observe an animal showing an unusual color of its fur

3 years ago
75

Black squirrels have been seen primarily in the UK and US, and their presence has always been a little mystery. Scientists have tried to explain this particular anomaly. Like many animals with unusual color combinations, black squirrels are the result of a genetic mutation. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Cambridge and the Virginia Museum of Natural History collaborated on a joint project that tested squirrel DNA. The results, published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, showed that the black squirrel is a cross between the common gray squirrel and the fox squirrel. The black squirrel is therefore actually a gray squirrel with a defective pigmented gene given by the fox squirrel, which makes the shade of its fur darker.

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