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Southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are seasonally gregarious and rely on the thermoregulatory benefits of well-constructed nests and presence of nest mates to survive harsh winter conditions. Prior work has shown that kinship components are important to how winter aggregations form in captivity and that relatedness between individuals is higher than expected in undisturbed populations examined in the field. Over the course of 2 falls, 2006 and 2007, we created related and unrelated groups in a laboratory colony at Wake Forest University. We presented each group type with related and unrelated individuals as intruders. Once formed, aggregations persisted when presented with an intruder squirrel. Squirrels from existing aggregations were found in the same nest box 98% of the time. Factors of relatedness and familiarity were crucial in determining whether the intruder was accepted into an existing aggregation or nested alone. We found that related groups were more tolerant of truly novel (unrelated unfamiliar) intruders and more likely to incorporate them into the aggregation than were unrelated groups. Unrelated groups never accepted unrelated unfamiliar intruders in 2006, whereas some were accepted in 2007 due to increased colony-wide familiarity. Acceptance of intruders was dependent on relatedness. Intruders were more likely to be found in an aggregation when either the existing group was composed of kin or the intruder was related to at least one group member. We also found effects of familiarity of individuals on the choice of nest mates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In winter southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) aggregate in large groups. They live on food items individually stored during the fall in their overlapping home ranges. The squirrels gain thermoregulatory benefits from living in aggregations but also face costs of group living, especially nest mates pilfering individually stored food. Other costs include increased predator attraction and a greater vulnerability to parasite infection. The presence of relatives in the group has the potential to increase inclusive fitness by increasing the availability of food, stored in the home area, to related individuals. Using 3 generations of known-relationship squirrels we conducted laboratory experiments to determine whether kin or familiar animals were preferred nest mates during aggregation formation. During 3 time periods, over 2 winters, squirrels were presented with kin and nonkin and familiar and unfamiliar animals and allowed to aggregate over the course of multiple 3-day trials. Kinship was persistently a major factor in the formation of aggregations. Squirrels aggregated with highly related animals (parents, offspring, and siblings) significantly more often than with unrelated animals. Familiarity became significant by the end of the study. Understanding how relatedness and familiarity interact in the formation of aggregations in seasonally gregarious animals sheds light on the processes and factors that lead to sociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) face a dilemma: winter aggregation is beneficial for thermoregulation but costly due to nest mates pilfering stored food in the home area and the tendency for groups to attract predators. Living with kin in winter aggregations may mitigate these deleterious effects because if an individual dies, its stored food can be beneficial to relatives, thereby increasing inclusive fitness. Southern flying squirrels from 7 populations and a captive colony were genotyped at 6 microsatellite loci. We calculated group mean relatedness and dyad relatedness within groups. In the wild, winter populations were found to be more highly related than expected by chance. Fifty-seven percent of animals were associated with a highly related individual in their winter aggregation. We show that southern flying squirrels have a preference for relatives as winter nest mates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary is the text of an oral presentation delivered at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists in Brookings, South Dakota, on 22 June 2008 to recognize receipt of the Joseph Grinnell Award for Excellence in Education in Mammalogy. Much has been written by previous recipients of the Joseph Grinnell Award about the declining interest in natural history and organismic biology in academia and in society in general. In the course of 40 years of university teaching and student advising, as well as field research with students on 5 continents, I too have witnessed this increasing abandonment of the natural world. This phenomenon seems to stem from changes in the early experiences of children and young people over the past 40 years and, thus, I would advance the premise that mammalogy and other branches of natural history begin at home. Three types of learning seem important to the developing mind. First is the time and opportunity for unstructured, unforced exploration of the local environment--time to develop from the inside out rather than merely as a shell coated with a number of intellectual veneers. Second is learning from the example and caring instruction of enthusiastic parents, teachers, and mentors. Third is the transfer of information--from personal experience, reading, teaching, and selectively from a vast array of electronic sources--once again with time for synthesis and contemplation. All 3 types of learning appear to be critical to an appreciation of the natural world. Unfortunately, these processes have been grossly distorted by the loss of outdoor experience, by parental fears and ambitions, and by a kind of electronic idolatry associated with constant entertainment, instant gratification, and virtual relationships. Such an upbringing may affect not only a child's physical and mental health, but his or her future commitment to preserving the natural world as an adult. Published studies of ''nature deficit disorder'' and "videophilia" now describe this phenomenon and challenge families, schools, and scientific organizations to respond in a timely way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) has an extensive range in North America, inhabiting boreal, coniferous, and mixed forests of the northern United States and Canada and the slopes of the mountains of the east and west. Most undisturbed northern populations are apparently thriving, but those in the southern mountains arc considered disjunct relicts occupying declining remnants of suitable habitat. It is clear that range contraction in the past has been associated with climate and vegetation change in the Pleistocene and the large-scale timber harvests of the early 20th century and that today a significant threat comes from forest practices and development. However, the major problem in dealing with conservation of this species is understanding its complex ecological position in its regional communities and the subtle as well as obvious influences of human activities. Thus, to preserve this species over its extensive range one will have to consider its various roles as a biological opportunist, an important prey item, a disperser of mycorrhizae, a potential victim of biological warfare, and a small, secretive glider especially vulnerable to anthropogenic and possible climatic changes in the size, arrangement, and quality of its home forests [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic relationships were examined among wild-caught southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) sharing the same natural nest cavity. Under natural conditions, typically 75-80% of southern flying squirrel nest groups comprise adult-aged individuals. The remainder nest in family-based groups or are solitary. The coefficient of relatedness within nest groups of adult individuals and family-based nest groups was examined through microsatellite DNA analysis. Family or adult nest groups were identified from the age class of individual group members determined through a discriminant function analysis based on body mass. From this information, nest groups were categorized as family-based groups comprising a single adult female with nestlings, adult groups comprising adult aged-individuals, or subadult nest groups. The average coefficient of relatedness was determined in each nest group. Within the putative family groups, most individuals were 1st-order relatives. In the adult nest groups, the coefficient of relatedness was low, indicating that these individuals were unrelated. The relationships within the subadult nest groups were intermediate. This is the 1st study to show that adult nestmate southern flying squirrels typically are unrelated and do not nest in family-based groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features a study on the evolutionary and biogeographic histories of New World tree squirrels of the genus Tamiasciurus using nucleotide sequence data from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome-b gene and allozymic data. Details on the genus Tamiasciurus; Materials and methods; Results; Discussion.