Are white squirrels a separate species?
Not unless you live in Thailand or one of the Philippian islands (where all white species of tree squirrels actually exist). In all other cases, including here in Brevard, the white squirrel is simply a coat color variant. That is, they are part of the natural variation occurring in very variable species, in this case the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensi), which also includes black variants in many parts of its range. Think of all the variation that occurs in our own species such as in eye or hair color; hair color in a squirrel may vary not just from individual to individual but from one part of the body to another.
Not unless you live in Thailand or one of the Philippian islands (where all white species of tree squirrels actually exist). In all other cases, including here in Brevard, the white squirrel is simply a coat color variant. That is, they are part of the natural variation occurring in a very variable species, in this case the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensi), which also includes black variants in many parts of its range. Think of all the variation that occurs in our own species such as in eye or hair color; hair color in a squirrel may vary not just from individual to individual but from one part of the body to another (for more on this subject, see post “What is a white squirrel?).
