Thread by @lfinnegal, The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) has a widespread distribution. From Ireland [...]

The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) has a widespread distribution. From Ireland to Japan. But in Ireland and Britain is has been called a separate subspecies (S.v.leucourus) because of its lighter tail #SquirrelAppreciationDay

This plate from "Edward Wilson's Nature Notebooks" 2004 shows how variable tail colour in Irish squirrels can be:
#SquirrelAppreciationDay

Wilson and Wilson 2004

This plate from "Edward Wilson's Nature Notebooks" 2004 shows how variable tail colour in Irish squirrels can be: #SquirrelAppreciationDay Wilson and Wilson 2004

Hale and Lurz (2003) looked at this in more detail in Britian. They found light tails were rare - probably because of introductions from continental Europe
…https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S0952836903003595

#SquirrelAppreciationDay

ZSL Publications

British red squirrel populations have been subject to landscape management practices resulting in large‐scale fragmentation and defragmentation of habitat, as well as numerous historical introducti...

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S0952836903003595

We did a similar study in Ireland, and although lighter tails were more in Ireland, there was still a mixture of different colour morphs across the country (warning - small sample size!)
#SquirrelAppreciationDay https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-008-0228-1

Morphological diversity of the red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, in Ireland

The red squirrel in Britain and Ireland has been described as a separate subspecies, Sciurus vulgaris leucourus, based on bleaching of the tail and ear tufts. However, recent investigations in...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-008-0228-1

Genetics research suggested red squirrels in Britain and Ireland are from a mixture of native and continental individuals, but Ireland might have genetic diversity not found elsewhere
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-007-9419-7
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-294X.1999.00771.x

#SquirrelAppreciationDay

Genetic structure of fragmented populations of red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in the UK

The relationships among 207 squirrels from 12 locations in the UK and three in mainland Europe were examined using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence. Twenty‐six haplotypes were...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-007-9419-7

and more recent detailed research by @denomeara et al also found high genetic diversity in Ireland, and mtDNA haplotypes not found elsewhere in Europe
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13364-018-0353-5
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Retracing the history and planning the future of the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in Ireland...

The Eurasian red squirrel’s (Sciurus vulgaris) history in Ireland is largely unknown, but the original population is thought to have been driven to extinction by humans in the seventeenth century,...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13364-018-0353-5

Irish red squirrels live at the tip of large species distribution. But differences in genetics +morphology suggest Irish squirrels are important to conserve not only in Ireland but also for red squirrel conservation in Britain.
#SquirrelAppreciationDay

I've been out of the squirrel game in Ireland for a while - but if you want to know more then follow @denomeara @rebecca_synnott (and others? please add below) for hot-off-the-press Iora rua news
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