caa a22 4500 378912658 CHVBK 20180305123545.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161128e20040701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1515/mamm.2004.005 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)gruyter-10.1515/mamm.2004.005 Is coat-colour polymorphism in Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris L.) adaptive? [Elektronische Daten] [Luc A. Wauters, Massimiliano Zaninetti, Guido Tosi, Sandro Bertolino] Coat-colour polymorphism, the relative frequencies of red, brown and black fur-morphs, was examined in nine populations of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris L.) in northern Italy. The proportions of the three different coat-colours differed between populations. Red morphs were most common in mixed woodlands of the Upper Po-plain, but rare in populations from the Alps. The highest frequencies of black morphs were found in subalpine conifer forests in the western Alps (Gran Paradiso) and in montane mixed conifer forests in the central Alps (Valtellina). Coat-colour did not affect juvenile survival, and there were no significant differences in mean foot length or body mass among subadults and adults of different colour-morphs. However, inter-population variation in the frequency of black morphs was positively correlated with the proportion of spruce (and/or fir) in the forest and with the density of trees. We suggest that the combination of a denser and more cryptic fur in black morphs gives them a selective advantage over other coat colour morphs in wet, dense spruce-fir forests of the Italian Alps, which could explain the within- and between population variation in the relative frequencies of coat colour phenotypes observed in this study. Copyright 2004, Walter de Gruyter Coat-colour morphs nationallicence Eurasian red squirrel nationallicence Sciurus vulgaris nationallicence forest composition nationallicence Italy nationallicence Wauters Luc A. 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut Zaninetti Massimiliano 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut Tosi Guido 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut Bertolino Sandro 2. Laboratory of Entomology and Zoology, DIVAPRA, University of Turin, Via L. da Vinci 44, I-10095 Grugliasco (TO) (Italy) aut Mammalia Walter de Gruyter 68/1(2004-07-01), 37-48 0025-1461 68:1<37 2004 68 mamm https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2004.005 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2004.005 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wauters Luc A. 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Zaninetti Massimiliano 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tosi Guido 1. Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Varese, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese (VA), (Italy) aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bertolino Sandro 2. Laboratory of Entomology and Zoology, DIVAPRA, University of Turin, Via L. da Vinci 44, I-10095 Grugliasco (TO) (Italy) aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Mammalia Walter de Gruyter 68/1(2004-07-01), 37-48 0025-1461 68:1<37 2004 68 mamm CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-gruyter