A genetic assessment of the red squirrel in Illinois: Natives, immigrants, or exotics?

Abstract

A small population ofred squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) has existed in Iroquois County, Illinois since the 1970' s. The origin of this population is unknown, but some accounts suggest they are the offspring of released red squirrels from Minnesota. Alternatively, they may be a remnant Illinois population or more recent immigrants from Indiana. Finally, this population could reflect a mixed ancestry of the above scenarios. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was utilized to determine the genetic relationships among red squirrel populations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. My results showed low levels of haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity in the Illinois sample. Pair-wise comparisons of

Date of Award	2008
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Zhiwei Liu (Supervisor) & Thomas Nelson (Supervisor)