Genetic distinctiveness of red foxes in the Intermountain West as revealed through expanded mitochondrial sequencing

Phylogeography of a widespread small carnivore, the western spotted skunk (Spilogale gracilis) reveals temporally variable signatures of isolation across western North America

“…mephitis (Barton & Wisely, 2012), ermine, Mustela erminea (Dawson et al, 2014), and red foxes, Vulpes vulpes (Aubry et al, 2009;Volkmann et al, 2015) all indicate recent divergences (<400 Ka) of intraspecific lineages following glaciation patterns across North America, but see Harding and Dragoo (2012). However, intraclade divergence within a western North America clade of the long-tailed weasel, Mustela frenata appears more in line with patterns seen in S. gracilis, with major lineage divergence occurring around 1 Ma (Harding & Dragoo, 2012).…”

“…This pattern contrasts with results for the related striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis , which showed distinct phylogeographic subdivisions across the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Barton & Wisely, ). Other co‐distributed mammals displaying phylogeographic breaks with mountains of the west include mule deer (Latch et al., ) and red foxes (Aubry, Statham, Sacks, Perrine, & Wisely, ; Volkmann, Statham, Mooers, & Sacks, ).…”

“…In comparison with similar, broadly distributed and generalist species of small carnivores, including other mephitid species (Barton & Wisely, ), S. gracilis displays a pattern more consistent with small mammals like rodents than similar or even smaller‐sized carnivores (Aubry et al., ; Dawson, Hope, Talbot, & Cook, ; Harding & Dragoo, ). For example, studies of striped skunks, M. mephitis (Barton & Wisely, ), ermine, Mustela erminea (Dawson et al., ), and red foxes, Vulpes vulpes (Aubry et al., ; Volkmann et al., ) all indicate recent divergences (<400 Ka) of intraspecific lineages following glaciation patterns across North America, but see Harding and Dragoo (). However, intraclade divergence within a western North America clade of the long‐tailed weasel, Mustela frenata appears more in line with patterns seen in S. gracilis , with major lineage divergence occurring around 1 Ma (Harding & Dragoo, ).…”

Red Fox Ancestry and Connectivity Assessments Reveal Minimal Fur Farm Introgression in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

“…Montane red foxes share a common ancestor that colonized North America via Beringia before the Illinoian Glaciation (~191-130 kya) up to 500 kya, but these red foxes became reproductively isolated in their respective subalpine habitat islands after the end of the Pleistocene (Aubry et al 2009;Statham et al 2014). Red foxes at lower elevations in the western United States, in contrast, may comprise a mixture of expanding montane red foxes, other indigenous red foxes that derive from either the pre-Illinoian Glaciation colonization or from a later colonization event during the Wisconsin Glaciation (100-10 kya), or nonindigenous red foxes associated with fur farms (Kamler and Ballard 2002;Aubry et al 2009;Sacks et al 2010Sacks et al , 2016Statham et al 2012;Volkmann et al 2015). In the early 19th century, explorers Meriwether Lewis and Prince Maximilian von Weid observed red foxes along the Missouri River at elevations below 750 m (Moulton 2005;Witte and Gallagher 2012); but today, most low-elevation red foxes probably derive at least partly from fur farm red foxes (Volkmann et al 2015;Merson et al 2017).…”

“…Red foxes at lower elevations in the western United States, in contrast, may comprise a mixture of expanding montane red foxes, other indigenous red foxes that derive from either the pre-Illinoian Glaciation colonization or from a later colonization event during the Wisconsin Glaciation (100-10 kya), or nonindigenous red foxes associated with fur farms (Kamler and Ballard 2002;Aubry et al 2009;Sacks et al 2010Sacks et al , 2016Statham et al 2012;Volkmann et al 2015). In the early 19th century, explorers Meriwether Lewis and Prince Maximilian von Weid observed red foxes along the Missouri River at elevations below 750 m (Moulton 2005;Witte and Gallagher 2012); but today, most low-elevation red foxes probably derive at least partly from fur farm red foxes (Volkmann et al 2015;Merson et al 2017). Fur farm red foxes, which were subject to captive breeding for many generations, derive primarily from eastern North American red foxes (which also originated before the Illinoian Glaciation) and Alaskan red foxes (which originated during the Wisconsin Glaciation), and they were augmented with breeding stock from the Washington Cascades (Sacks et al 2016;Lounsberry et al 2016;Merson et al 2017).…”