Greys’ gut microbiomes, or the community of microbes that reside in their intestines, have been found to be more diversified.
An invasive species, grey squirrels were brought from North America to the UK and Ireland in the late 19th century.
They transmit squirrel pox, a disease that kills reds but has no known long-term effects on greys, and they outcompete the native reds for food and habitat.
A further concern to the sustainable management of woods is the damage that grey squirrels inflict to trees through their behavior of stripping bark, which is little understood by scientists.
The gut microbiome, or ecology of microbes that reside in intestines, was analyzed in both red and grey squirrels, and the results showed that the latter had a more varied gut flora.
The various bacterial species found in the stomachs of both red and grey squirrels were identified by the researchers using DNA sequencing techniques.
