Black squirrel 'super' species? No, just a darker shade of grey
by Patrick Barkham from Environment | The Guardian on (#4N6KV)
Black squirrel result of interbreeding between grey and fox squirrels - and they both carry virus
In popular myth they are an aggressive new "super" species pushing out the grey squirrel just as it has displaced the red squirrel.
But the black squirrels seen scampering through southern England are a form of grey squirrel created by wild interbreeding between greys and fox squirrels in North America, according to research.
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