Squirrel Speciation on St. Kitts and Nevis

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Web Name: Squirrel Speciation on St. Kitts and Nevis

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Squirrel Speciation on St. Kitts and Nevis

Thursday, October 10, 1991 Case Closed

I'm done here in the West Indies and I made my report to the Department of Island Resources yesterday.

The phenomenon on St. Kitts and Nevis was a clear cut case of speciation.

Allopatric speciation, with a collapsing land bridge, might have occurred.

Behavioral and habitata isolation are also probable causes of speciation.

Finally, the reduced viability of hybrid offspring indicates that the two populations are distinct species...

The solution I have proposed to the department is to capture rodents from St. Kitts and breed them in captivity. Inbreeding is a risk, but one that has to be taken here if the species is to survive. Therefore, if breeding in captivity is performed, the failing population can be bolstered and then released into the wild. The Department is also considering establishing a nature reserve on St. Kitts to protect the fauna of St. Kitts from the development. Hopefully, they will make a difference.

Case closed

posted by 3van3dmond @ 9:51 PM

Thursday, September 05, 1991 More Factors??

There may have been yet another factor involved in the speciation of the rodents here on St. Kitts and Nevis!

By visiting Nevis I saw that the rodents there are mainly ground living animals that feed off low lying shrubs and bushes. However, on St. Kitts, the rodents live mainly in the treetops, feeding mainly on leaves.

This illustrates both behavioral and habitat isolation between the two populations.

Speciation may have begun even before the land bridge collapsed because of these two factors. The two species have different behavior, one feeding on shrubs while the other feeds on leaves in trees. This may have encouraged speciation in the populations.

Secondly, the two populations have different habitats. The St. Kitts rodents live in treetops and the Nevis rodents live on the ground. This also encouraged speciation because individuals are less likely to meet and mate and so connect the two populations.

posted by 3van3dmond @ 9:41 PM

Saturday, August 24, 1991 Startling Discovery

Allopatric Speciation could play a part in this saga!

Today, while researching possible causes of speciation, local geologists suggested to me that there once could have been a land bridge between St. Kitts and Nevis. This shows that there was only one population of rodents at the time. Then, an immense earthquake must have occured close to the islands and the land bridge that united the islands collapsed.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/3van3dmond/earthquake.gif

Then, the species must have gradually evolved apart through hundreds of thousands of years into the two species we now know today.

This is a classic example of allopatric speciation, where a geographical feature splits a population into two parts which gradually evolve apart over time.

posted by 3van3dmond @ 9:32 PM

Thursday, August 15, 1991 Failure

The attempt failed... After 240 attempts at bringing smauts from Nevis to St. Kitts, there have been no viable offspring, with many stillbirths occurring.

These findings indicate that speciation has occurred. In this case, the two populations of smauts on Nevis and Kitts cannot interbreed to produce living offspring. This is typical of postzygotic reproductive isolation, a major indicator of speciation.

This argues that the two islands have populations of smauts that have speciated to become distinct species.
With more detailed investigation, we have found out that there are many differences between the two species of rodents.
Nevis Rodent:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/3van3dmond/fat-rodent-eating.jpg
Kitts Rodent:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/3van3dmond/rodent.jpg
Other differences:



St. Kitts RodentNevis RodentAverage Weight:83g86gAverage Length:21.8 cm23.3 cmAverage Hindlimb:7.4 cm4.2 cmAverage Forelimb:4.2 cm3.9 cmTop speed:2.2 m/s0.8 m/sLeap height:1.4 m0.4 mGestation length:29.3 days42.7 days



Clearly, the St. Kitts smaut is a much more agile and fit animal than the sedentary Nevis smaut.
Therefore, i have concluded that there are two species of smauts, both within the genus Sciurus.
I have named them sciurus nevisii and sciurus kittsii.

posted by 3van3dmond @ 9:08 PM

Wednesday, January 23, 1991 First Attempt

Today I arrived in Basseterre and picked up some general info about the islands.
The islands are volcanic in origin, and were only discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. Humans may have lived there but before the 1500s, the islands were in a natural state. Finally, the locals could tell me that the common name for these rodents is smaut.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/3van3dmond/st_kitts_nevis-fr.jpg

Today we will begin our plan to repopulate St. Kitts. We will bring rodents from Nevis and interbreed them with the St. Kitts smauts and then the population here should recover.

posted by 3van3dmond @ 8:56 PM

Wednesday, January 02, 1991 Im off!

Im going on holiday to St. Kitts and Nevis, tropical islands in the Carribean!


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/3van3dmond/st_kitts.gif

No, not really... I'm doing a job for the Department of Nature and Island Resources of the West Indies. They are having trouble with declining populations of rodents on the island of St. Kitts due to recent development of the island.
This rodent has not been investigated or named by scientists before now.
I have a few plans, including bringing rodents from neighbouring Nevis to St. Kitts and allowing them to breed with the St. Kitts rodents.

posted by 3van3dmond @ 11:39 AM

About MeName: 3van3dmond Location: Singapore

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Links Google News Edit-Me Edit-Me Previous Posts Case Closed More Factors?? Startling Discovery Failure First Attempt Im off! Archives 01/91 08/91 09/91 10/91

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