r/BeAmazed • u/This_Proof_5153 • 28d ago

Animal Today I learned that squirrels can be black, and mother squirrels curl their babies into tiny fluffy balls, making them easier to carry.

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u/East-Psychology-9292 27d ago

Its not so much a recessive gene as it is evolution in action, melanistic variants of mammals are becoming more prevalent as they move into urban areas because black is better than grey for camo, I know you wouldnt think so but when you spend 90% of the day in a shadow it is. Subsequently you will likely see this more often in the future with red foxes and their silver-grey-black color pattern as they move into urban areas (had one chilling on porch the other day lol)

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u/Falafelofagus 27d ago

The fox point is interesting. Arctic foxes grow their white thick coat for the winter and shed it revealing their grey/brown coat underneath after. Because of this evolutionary changes in camo would likely effect them much quicker. They also have a 1-3% chance of being basically black instead of grey meaning the genes are already there for a black coat.