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Eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger, Linnaeus 1758) introduction to the Sonoran Desert

The eastern fox squirrel, native to the eastern and midwestern United States, was recently documented in the Sonoran Desert in the vicinity of Yuma, Arizona, constituting the first state record for this species. We surveyed the people of Yuma to determine when and how the squirrels arrived. The squirrels were first observed in the 1960s, but may have been resident for a longer period. Since the 1960s, squirrels have spread throughout the city limits and extended south similar to 15 km into Somerton, Arizona. How the squirrels arrived is not clear, but must be the result of an introduction, as no nearby populations exist. The persistence of eastern fox squirrels in this unique habitat is due to synanthropic relationships.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/623925
Date01 January 2017
CreatorsBrady, Matthew J., Koprowski, John L., Gwinn, R. Nathan, Jo, Yeong-Seok, Young, Kevin
ContributorsUniv Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & Environm, Wildlife Conservat & Management
PublisherWALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle
RightsCopyright © 2016, Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Relationhttp://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mamm.2017.81.issue-2/mammalia-2015-0162/mammalia-2015-0162.xml

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