Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) - Coggle Diagram
Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Environment Challenge
Warmer temperatures, longer days
Snow melts, food sources (nuts, seeds, plants) become easier to find
Weather becomes mild, heavy insulation is no longer needed
Squirrels start shedding their thick winter coats
hormonal changes trigger new fur growth suited for environment
Physical changes
Slicker, lighter fur
Less Bushy tails
Minimal ear tufts
Squirrels become more active, spend more time foraging
Cold Temperatures in Winter
Northern forests get snowy and freezing
Variation in Population
Squirrels with naturally thicker fur, denser tails
lose less heat during winter
survive cold winters better, can find food longer
live long enough to reproduce, pass on genes for thicker fur, bushier tails to o
Population gradually develops thicker sinter coats, bushier tials, tufts on ears, become common traits
Shorter, thinner fur
lose heat during winter
die off
food becomes hard to find
Artificial Selection
Selective breeding
two red squirrels that have thicker fur
Keep the squirrels warm during the cold weather
white eurasian red squirrel w/red squirrel
camouflages better in snowy environments in winter.
eurasian red squirrel w/eurasian red squirrel
camouflage better in forest environements in summer
would adapt to human environement, since deforestation causes destruction of trees
no trees -- squirrels blend in better with the ground
white eurasian (albino) red squirrel w/thicker fur eurasian red squirrel
Squirrels that can survive better in snowy elements (kept warm by thick fur, and able to camouflage)
Genetic Engineering
Protection of the Red Squirrels from the Grey squirrels
Increase the amount of grey squirrels over red ones
Changing the genes of grey squirrels to red ones
Skewing the sex of the red squirrels to male
More squirrels being born
Increases the population of red ones
Edit the MC1R gene to produce more white squirrels
