Western scientists have studied flying squirrels in North America for well over 250 years. The new species is Glaucomys oregonensis, but the researchers gave it the common name “Humboldt’s flying squirrel” in honor of German explores and geographer Alexander Von Humboldt, and in a nod to the Northern California county that bears his name, says Arbogast. In other words, the Pacific Coastal flying squirrels were not simply a type of northern flying squirrel but were instead a separate, distinct species. They indicated that no gene flow was occurring between the Pacific Coastal form and the widespread continental form of the northern flying squirrel. The results of the microsatellite analyses were striking. Researchers combined information from mitochondrial DNA sequences and information from a different type of DNA marker, known as microsatellites, which are short repetitive stretches of DNA typically found in the nuclear genome that can help scientists identify levels of gene flow among populations. The research team analyzed the DNA of northern flying squirrels from across North America, with an emphasis on the Pacific Coastal region of the continent. “If it had been something as obvious as a bushier tail, or distinct markings, scientists would have identified that already,” says Kerhoulas.
Humboldt’s flying squirrel is what scientists refer to as a “cryptic” species, one that was not earlier recognized as being distinct based on its physical appearance. With new genetic information we know that there’s no gene flow between the two,” says Nick Kerhoulas, HSU Biology instructor and a member of the research team. “They look similar, but Humboldt’s flying squirrels are generally smaller and darker. How could a distinct species exist along the Pacific coast and escape the notice of scientists who first observed the northern flying squirrel in 1801? Arbogast was formerly a professor at Humboldt State University’s Department of Biological Sciences and head of the University’s Vertebrate Museum.
“For over 200 years scientists have thought that only two species of flying squirrels live in the Americas,” says Brian Arbogast, a University of North Carolina at Wilmington professor who directed the study “Genetic Data Reveal a Cryptic Species of New World flying squirrel: Glaucomys oregonensis,” published in the Journal of Mammalogy. The furry critter is actually a distinct species, which has been named Humboldt’s flying squirrel, and a new study describes how scientists are up-ending flying squirrel taxonomy. Scientists always assumed it was a northern flying squirrel gliding through the canopies of Pacific coastal forests.īut now a recent in-depth investigation of the animal’s DNA is proving otherwise. A Humboldt flying squirrel, striking a classic Spiderman pose.