This weasel-like creature known as the Haida ermine can only be found in Haida Gwaii and the Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. By examining the mammal’s DNA and skull, scientists discovered that the mammal is a hybrid between ermines found in North America and throughout Eurasia. (Forest Service Northern Region) After more than 300,000 years of being stuck on an archipelago off B.C’s West Coast, a weasel-like creature has a new designation, according to a scientist from the University of Kansas. The Haida ermine is now one of three distinct ermines that can be found in only two places in the world. The mammal was first thought to be unique in 2013 but after examining its DNA and skull, scientists discovered that the animal is so vastly different from ermines found in other parts of the world, it is now considered to be its own species. "We used whole genome DNA and morphology … to figure out that there are three species and not one," University of Kansas evolution biologist Jocelyn Colella said, "and one of those species [is] only found in Haida Gwaii and the Prince of Wales in Southeast Alaska." She said the Haida ermine […]
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