scholarly journals Morphological and functional variation between isolated populations of British red squirrels ( Sciurus vulgaris )

2020 ◽  
Vol 312 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-283
Author(s):  
P. G. Cox ◽  
P. J. R. Morris ◽  
J. J. Hennekam ◽  
A. C. Kitchener
Keyword(s):  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Red Squirrels

scholarly journals Population fragmentation leads to morpho-functional variation in British red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip G. Cox ◽  
Philip J.R. Morris ◽  
Andrew C. Kitchener
Keyword(s):  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Red Squirrel ◽  
Population Fragmentation ◽  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Linear Measurements ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
The Uk

AbstractIt is well-known that population fragmentation and isolation can lead to rapid morphological and functional divergence, with the effect being particularly well-documented in rodents. Here, we investigated whether such a phenomenon could be identified in the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), which was once widespread across the majority of Great Britain, but suffered a severe population decline across the 20th century, leaving a highly fragmented distribution. The aim was to test for morphological and biomechanical variation of the mandible between the remaining British red squirrel populations. Linear and geometric morphometric methods were used to analyse shape in a sample of over 250 squirrel mandibles from across the UK and Germany. Canonical variates analysis identified significant shape differences between most British red squirrel populations, but particularly between squirrels from Formby and those from other populations. Linear measurements showed that Formby red squirrels have a significantly lower mechanical advantage of the temporalis muscle, indicating that they are less efficient at gnawing. We suggest that this difference may be related to past supplemental feeding of Formby squirrels with peanuts, which are less mechanically resistant than food items that occur naturally in the diet of British red squirrels.

Hepatozoon in Eurasian red squirrels Sciurus vulgaris, its taxonomic identity, and phylogenetic placement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Modrý ◽  
Lada Hofmannová ◽  
Petr Papežík ◽  
Karolina Majerová ◽  
Jan Votýpka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement

scholarly journals Causes of mortality and pathological lesions observed post-mortem in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in Great Britain

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor R Simpson ◽  
Judith Hargreaves ◽  
Helen M Butler ◽  
Nicholas J Davison ◽  
David J Everest
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Pathological Lesions ◽  
Causes Of Mortality

Squirrelpox Virus in Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the Republic of Ireland

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Favel Naulty ◽  
David Everest ◽  
Neil D. Warnock ◽  
Kevin Phelan ◽  
John J. Callanan
Keyword(s):  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Squirrelpox Virus

scholarly journals Fatal exudative dermatitis in island populations of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): spillover of a virulent Staphylococcus aureus clone (ST49) from reservoir hosts

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Fountain ◽  
Tiffany Blackett ◽  
Helen Butler ◽  
Catherine Carchedi ◽  
Anna-Katarina Schilling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Small Ruminants ◽  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Bacterial Cell Membrane ◽  
Reservoir Hosts

Fatal exudative dermatitis (FED) is a significant cause of death of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands where it is associated with a virulent clone of Staphylococcus aureus, ST49. S. aureus ST49 has been found in other hosts such as small mammals, pigs and humans, but the dynamics of carriage and disease of this clone, or any other lineage in red squirrels, is currently unknown. We used whole-genome sequencing to characterize 228 isolates from healthy red squirrels on Jersey, the Isle of Arran (Scotland) and Brownsea Island (England), from red squirrels showing signs of FED on Jersey and the Isle of Wight (England) and a small number of isolates from other hosts. S. aureus was frequently carried by red squirrels on the Isle of Arran with strains typically associated with small ruminants predominating. For the Brownsea carriage, S. aureus was less frequent and involved strains associated with birds, small ruminants and humans, while for the Jersey carriage S. aureus was rare but ST49 predominated in diseased squirrels. By combining our data with publicly available sequences, we show that the S. aureus carriage in red squirrels largely reflects frequent but facile acquisitions of strains carried by other hosts sharing their habitat (‘spillover’), possibly including, in the case of ST188, humans. Genome-wide association analysis of the ruminant lineage ST133 revealed variants in a small number of mostly bacterial-cell-membrane-associated genes that were statistically associated with squirrel isolates from the Isle of Arran, raising the possibility of specific adaptation to red squirrels in this lineage. In contrast there is little evidence that ST49 is a common carriage isolate of red squirrels and infection from reservoir hosts such as bank voles or rats, is likely to be driving the emergence of FED in red squirrels.

A novel dicistrovirus in a captive red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar Dastjerdi ◽  
David J. Everest ◽  
Hannah Davies ◽  
Daniela Denk ◽  
Roland Zell
Keyword(s):  
Genome Organization ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Particle Morphology ◽  
Intestinal Content ◽  
Red Squirrel ◽  
Sciurus Vulgaris ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
The Family ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Dicistroviruses are single-stranded RNA viruses in the family Dicistroviridae. The viruses have mainly been detected in arthropods and are the cause of several devastating diseases in many of these species such as honeybees. Increasingly, dicistroviruses have also been detected in both mammalian and avian species in faeces, blood and liver, but with unconfirmed pathology. Here, we report a novel dicistrovirus detected in the intestinal content of a captive red squirrel with enteritis along with the disease history, pathology and genomic characterisation of the virus. Virus particle morphology resembled those of picornaviruses with a diameter of 28–32 nm but failed to be detected using a mammalian/avian pan viral microarray. Next-generation sequencing confirmed a dicistrovirus having a typical dicistrovirus genome organization, but with the polyprotein 1 being shorter by about 100 amino acids, compared to that of other dicistroviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of ORF1 and ORF2 sequences clustered the virus with two yet unassigned dicistroviruses detected in Gorilla gorilla and a freshwater arthropod and likely to be designated to a new genus. Our data further highlights the ever-growing diversity of dicistroviruses, but the clinical significance of the virus in mammalian species and particularly red squirrels has yet to be established.

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