Red foxes colonised the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation. Gene mapping demonstrates that red foxes in North America have been isolated from their Old World counterparts for over 400,000 years, thus raising the possibility that speciation has occurred, and that the previous binomial name of "Vulpes fulva" may be valid. In the far north, red fox fossils have been found in Sangamonian Stage deposits in the Fairbanks District and Medicine Hat. Fossils dating from the Wisconsinan are present in 25 sites in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Colonisation of North America
Red fox
Red fox | Colonisation of North America
Red foxes colonised the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation. Red foxes colonised the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation During or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation. Red foxes colonised the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation.
how long does it take for painted turtles to hatch
user
Hatched turtles grow until sexual maturity: 2–9 years for males, 6–16 for females.
assistant
where are they most commonly found?
user
North America
assistant
and what is their preferred domain of habitation?
user
It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific
assistant
who labelled this species for the first time?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
what do they mostly feed on?
user
It also consumes plants and skims the surface of the water with its mouth open to catch small particles of food.
assistant
are they preyed on by other animals?
user
Garter snakes, crows, chipmunks, thirteen-lined ground and gray squirrels, skunks, groundhogs, raccoons, badgers, gray and red fox, and humans.
assistant
where did this particular species of fox you just mentioned originate?
user
The species is Eurasian in origin, and may have evolved from either "Vulpes alopecoides" or the related Chinese "V. chikushanensis", both of which lived during the Middle Villafranchian
assistant
when did they migrate to north america?
user
Phylogeographical and genetic analysis of the eastern American red fox suggests that foxes first migrated to North America during the Illinoian glaciation (300,000 to 130,000 years before present) and spread southward (Aubry et al., 2009) More recently, the Wisconsin glaciation (100,000 to 10,000 before present) separated the North American fox population into two distinct areas (Aubry et al., 2009). North American red foxes are genetically distinctive from their Eurasian counterparts (Aubry et al., 2009; Frey 2013). Despite claims of historical translocations from Europe, modern red fox populations in the United States’ southeastern region have been shown to be native to North America (Statham et al., 2012).
American red fox | North American colonization and native status
Red foxes colonised the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation. Gene mapping demonstrates that red foxes in North America have been isolated from their Old World counterparts for over 400,000 years, thus raising the possibility that speciation has occurred, and that the previous binomial name of "Vulpes fulva" may be valid. In the far north, red fox fossils have been found in Sangamonian Stage deposits in the Fairbanks District and Medicine Hat. Fossils dating from the Wisconsinan are present in 25 sites in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Red fox | Colonisation of North America
The ancestors of the Cascade red fox colonized North America after crossing the Bering landbridge during the Illinoian glaciation over 300,000 years ago. During the Wisconsin glaciation, they were pushed south to escape to ice free forests. From that point, they adapted to the colder climate and became distinct. After the glaciation, they moved up into the mountains where conditions were similar.
Cascade red fox | North American colonization
Red foxes colonized the North American continent in two waves: during or before the Illinoian glaciation, and during the Wisconsinan glaciation. Gene mapping demonstrates that red foxes in North America have been isolated from their Old World counterparts for over 400,000 years, thus raising the possibility that speciation has occurred. In the far north, red fox fossils have been found in Sangamonian deposits in the Fairbanks District and Medicine Hat. Fossils dating from the Wisconsian are present in 25 sites in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. Although they ranged far south during the Wisconsinan, the onset of warm conditions shrank their range toward the north, and they have only recently reclaimed their former American ranges because of human-induced environmental changes.
American red fox | Origin
Current literature discusses whether or not the red fox is native to North America, with some research suggesting that nearly all red fox populations in North America are not native (Kamler & Ballard, 2002). "Vulpes Vulpes " is usually seen either as an exotic species introduced by Europeans during the colonization of the North American continent or as a hybrid between Eurasian and native red foxes (Frey, 2013; Aubry et al., 2009). While it is claimed that "Vulpes vulpes fulvus" stems from a nonnative population that spread westward from European introduction (Kamler & Ballard, 2002), a historical analysis of firsthand accounts does not support this claim (Frey, 2013).
American red fox | North American colonization and native status
It encompasses the subspecies "V. v. macroura", "V. v. cascadensis", and "V. v. necator". The latter clade has been separated from all other red fox populations since the last glacial maximum, and may possess unique ecological or physiological adaptations. Although European foxes were introduced to portions of the United States in the 1900s recent genetic investigation indicates an absence of European fox haplotypes in any North American populations. Also, introduced eastern red foxes have colonized southern California, the San Joaquin Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area, but appear to have mixed with the Sacramento Valley red fox ("V. fulva patwin") only in a narrow hybrid zone.
Red fox | Colonisation of North America
In addition, no evidence is seen of interbreeding of eastern red foxes in California with the montane Sierra Nevada red fox "V. v. necator" or other populations in the Intermountain West (between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges to the west.
Red fox | Colonisation of North America
The identification of the origins of the North American red fox populations is crucial in conservation efforts aimed at native vs. nonnative species (Statham et al., 2012). "Vulpes vulpes fulvus"’s presence has been augmenting in the western U.S., an area in which it has not been shown to be native.
American red fox | North American colonization and native status
Although they ranged far south during the Wisconsinan, the onset of warm conditions shrank their range toward the north, and have only recently reclaimed their former American ranges because of human-induced environmental changes. Genetic testing indicates two distinct red fox refugia exist in North America, which have been separated since the Wisconsinan. The northern (or boreal) refugium occurs in Alaska and western Canada, and consists of the large subspecies "V. v. alascensis", "V. v. abietorum", "V. v. regalis", and "V. v. rubricosa". The southern (or montane) refugium occurs in the subalpine parklands and alpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Range, and Sierra Nevada.
Red fox | Colonisation of North America
Although European red foxes were introduced to portions of the United States in the 1900s, recent genetic investigation indicates an absence of European red fox haplotypes in any North American populations. Also, introduced eastern American red foxes have colonized southern California, the San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area, but appear to have mixed with the Sacramento Valley red fox ("V. v. patwin") only in a narrow hybrid zone. In addition, no evidence is seen of interbreeding of eastern American red foxes in California with the montane Sierra Nevada red fox "V. v. necator" or other populations in the Intermountain West (between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges to the west.
American red fox | Origin
DNA comparisons show that the eastern American red fox is closely related to native populations in Canada and the northeastern region of the United States and is therefore the result of natural range expansions and not an invasive species from Europe as was previously thought (Statham et al., 2012). Range expansions seen recently may be connected to anthropogenic landscape change and not the spread of exotic European varieties (Statham et al., 2012). The native status of the eastern American red fox has been demonstrated by current research, which has important implications for management strategies. Previous classifications and taxonomic uncertainties (Kamler & Ballard, 2002) frame populations of "Vulpes vulpes fulvus" as a nonnative, invasive species that can cause declines in the populations of native species, carrying capacities, and populate regions at higher densities (Kamler & Ballard, 2002).
American red fox | North American colonization and native status
"Vulpes vulpes fulvus" inhabits the entire region of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains except the southern Great Plains and southern Texas (Frey, 2013; Tesky, 1995). The American red fox generally prefers mixed vegetation communities that occur on edge habitats with a high level of diversity (Tesky, 1995). In developed areas the American red fox will inhabit areas that offer a combination of woodland and agricultural land (Tesky, 1995).
American red fox | Habitat
The oldest petroglyphs in North America date from 15,000 to 10,000 years before present. Genetic research and anthropology indicate additional waves of migration from Asia via the Bering Strait during the Early-Middle Holocene. Before contact with Europeans, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several "culture areas", which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones and give a good indication of the main way of life of the people who lived there (e.g., the bison hunters of the Great Plains, or the farmers of Mesoamerica).
North America | Pre-Columbian
The North American red foxes have been traditionally considered either as subspecies of Old World red foxes or subspecies of their own species, "V. fulva". Due to the opinion that North American red foxes were introduced from Europe, all North American red foxes have been seen as conspecific with "V. vulpes". However, genetic analyses of global red fox haplotypes by Statham et al. (2012, 2014) indicates that North American red foxes have been genetically isolated from Old World populations for 400,000 years, prompting possible application of "V. fulva" to all North American red foxes. Castello (2018) has formalized treatment of "Vulpes fulva" as a separate species from the nominate "Vulpes vulpes" from the Old World.
American red fox | Taxonomy
They winter in temperate and subtropical North America; in the northern United States and southern Canada they often only stop over on their migration further south. The spring migration starts around February, and by early May almost all birds have returned to the breeding grounds. In fall, they start to move south around early October, and by mid-November, only the last stragglers still remain up North.
Red fox sparrow | Wintering and migration
When European settlers first arrived to North America, the coyote's range was limited to the western half of the continent. They existed in the arid areas and across the open plains, including the prairie regions of the midwestern states. Early explorers found some in Indiana and Wisconsin. From the mid-1800s onward, coyotes began expanding beyond their original range. The taxonomic debate regarding North American wolves can be summarised as follows:
Red wolf | Taxonomic debate
The specifics of Paleo-Indians' migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. For years, the traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America.
History of North America | The beginning of North America
South America was invaded by North American species for the first time since the Cretaceous, with North American rodents and primates mixing with southern forms. Litopterns and the notoungulates, South American natives, were mostly wiped out, except for the macrauchenids and toxodonts, which managed to survive. Small weasel-like carnivorous mustelids, coatis and short-faced bears migrated from the north. Grazing glyptodonts, browsing giant ground sloths and smaller caviomorph rodents, pampatheres, and armadillos did the opposite, migrating to the north and thriving there.
Pliocene | Mammals
From about 28 ka, there were migrations across the Bering land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. The people became the Native Americans. It is believed that the original tribes subsequently moved down to Central and South America under pressure from later migrations. In the North American land mammal age scale, the Rancholabrean spans the time from c. 240,000 years ago to c. 11,000 years ago. It is named after the Rancho La Brea fossil site in California, characterised by extinct forms of bison in association with other Pleistocene species such as the mammoth. "Bison occidentalis" and "Bison antiquus", an extinct subspecies of the smaller present-day bison, survived the Late Pleistocene period, between about 12 and 11 ka ago.
Late Pleistocene | North America
The last of the South and Central American notoungulates and litopterns died out, as well as North America's giant beavers, lions, dholes, cheetahs, and many of its antilocaprid, bovid, cervid, tapirid and tayassuid ungulates. Some groups disappeared over most or all of their original range, but survived in their adopted homes, e.g. South American tapirs, camelids, and tremarctine bears (cougars and jaguars may have been temporarily reduced to South American refugia also). Others, such as capybaras, survived in their original range, but died out in areas to which they had migrated. Notably, this extinction pulse eliminated all Neotropic migrants to North America larger than about 15 kg (the size of a big porcupine), and all native South American mammals larger than about 65 kg (the size of a big capybara or giant anteater).
Great American Interchange | Late Pleistocene extinctions
Genetic testing indicates two distinct red fox refugia exist in North America, which have been separated since the Wisconsinan. The northern (or boreal) refugium occurs in Alaska and western Canada, and consists of the large subspecies "V. v. alascensis", "V. v. abietorum", "V. v. regalis", and "V. v. rubricosa". The southern (or montane) refugium occurs in the sub-alpine parklands and alpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Range, and the Sierra Nevada, and consists of the subspecies "V. v. macroura", "V. v. cascadensis", "V. v. necator", and "V. v. patwin". The latter clade has been separated from all other red fox populations since the last glacial maximum, and may possess unique ecological or physiological adaptations.
American red fox | Origin
However, some species were able to adapt and spread into North America. Apart from "Pliometanastes", during the Irvingtonian stage of the mammal land stages, around 1.9 mya, species as "Pampatherium", a giant armadillo, ground sloth "Megatherium", giant anteater "Myrmecophaga", a Neogene capybara ("Hydrochoerus"), "Meizonyx", opossum "Didelphis", and "Mixotoxodon" followed the route north. The terror bird "Titanis" was the only discovered South American carnivore species who made the journey into North America.
History of South America | Prehistory
He also proposes that the ancestor of all North American and Eurasian wolves was "C. mosbachensis", which lived in the Middle Pleistocene 700,000–300,000 years ago. "C. mosbachensis" was a wolf that once lived across Eurasia before going extinct. It was smaller than most North American wolf populations and smaller than "C. rufus", and has been described as being similar in size to the small Indian wolf, "Canis lupus pallipes". He further proposes that "C. mosbachensis" invaded North America where it became isolated by the later glaciation and there gave rise to "C. rufus". In Eurasia, "C. mosbachensis" evolved into "C.
Red wolf | Fossil evidence
The species is Eurasian in origin, and may have evolved from either "Vulpes alopecoides" or the related Chinese "V. chikushanensis", both of which lived during the Middle Villafranchian. The earliest fossil specimens of "V. vulpes" were uncovered in Baranya, Hungary dating from 3.4-1.8 million years ago. The ancestral species was likely smaller than the current one, as the earliest red fox fossils are smaller than modern populations. The earliest fossil remains of the modern species date back to the mid-Pleistocene in association with the refuse of early human settlements. This has led to the theory that the red fox was hunted by primitive humans as both a source of food and pelts.
Red fox | Origins
They travelled north during the faunal interchange, and adapted well to North America, like the ground sloths, glyptodonts, armadillos, capybaras, and other South American immigrants. Their fossils are found from Brazil to the United States, mostly in Texas and Florida.
Holmesina | Distribution
The red fox ("Vulpes vulpes") is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia plus parts of Northern Africa. It is listed as least concern by the IUCN. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native mammals and bird populations. Due to its presence in Australia, it is included on the list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species". The red fox originated from smaller-sized ancestors from Eurasia during the Middle Villafranchian period, and colonised North America shortly after the Wisconsin glaciation.
Red fox | Introduction
However, the formation of a land bridge allowed members of all three families to migrate to southern North America during the Pliocene or early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange. After surviving for tens of millions of years, all of the pampatheriids and giant glyptodonts apparently died out during the Quaternary extinction event at the beginning of the Holocene, along with much of the rest of the regional megafauna, shortly after the colonization of the Americas by Paleo-Indians.
Cingulata | Introduction
the dinomyids). With the exception of the North American porcupine and several extinct porcupines and capybaras, however, they did not migrate past Central America. Due in large part to the continued success of the xenarthrans, one area of South American ecospace the Nearctic invaders were unable to dominate was the niches for megaherbivores. Before 12,000 years ago, South America was home to about 25 species of herbivores weighing more than 1000 kg, consisting of Neotropic ground sloths, glyptodonts, and toxodontids, as well as gomphotheres and camelids of Nearctic origin. Native South American forms made up about 75% of these species.
Great American Interchange | The Great American Biotic Interchange
Red foxes have been exceedingly successful in colonising built-up environments, especially lower-density suburbs, although many have also been sighted in dense urban areas far from the countryside. Throughout the twentieth century, they established themselves in many Australian, European, Japanese, and North American cities. The species first colonised British cities during the 1930s, entering Bristol and London during the 1940s, and later established themselves in Cambridge and Norwich. In Ireland, they are now common in suburban Dublin. In Australia, red foxes were recorded in Melbourne as early as the 1930s, while in Zurich, Switzerland, they only started appearing in the 1980s.
Red fox | Distribution
Europeans introduced the native population to their worse enemy, diseases that were carried and brought over from their home land. The fur trade also upset the ecological balance of North America. "Restraint wasn't a hallmark of the fur trade. In 1822, in the north western regions of the country alone, the Hudson's Bay Company stockpiled 1,500 fox skins, a paltry number compared with the 106,000 beaver skins, but too many none the less. The fur traders had miscalculated. As predators, they had failed to adapt to their prey, and their prey, in turn, retaliated with denial. Of course, the red fox didn't render himself extinct.
Ecological imperialism | Fur trade in North America
These changes provided the most likely explanation for mammal migrations after BP, as the warming provided increased forage for browsers and mixed feeders. Beringia did not block the movement of most dry steppe-adapted large species such as saiga antelope, woolly mammoth, and caballid horses. However, from the west, the woolly rhino went no further east than the Anadyr River, and from the east North American camels, the American kiang-like equids, the short-faced bear, bonnet-headed muskoxen, and American badger did not travel west. At the beginning of the Holocene, some mesic habitat-adapted species left the refugium and spread westward into what had become tundra-vegetated northern Asia and eastward into northern North America.
Beringia | Beringian refugium
The red fox is estimated to have dispersed across the continent in only 60–80 years.
Dingo | Fossil record
However, none of these megaherbivores has survived. Armadillos, opossums and porcupines are present in North America today because of the Great American Interchange. Opossums and porcupines were among the most successful northward migrants, reaching as far as Canada and Alaska, respectively. Most major groups of xenarthrans were present in North America until the end-Pleistocene Quaternary extinction event (as a result of at least eight successful invasions of temperate North America, and at least six more invasions of Central America only). Among the megafauna, ground sloths were notably successful emigrants; four different lineages invaded North America. A megalonychid representative, "Megalonyx", spread as far north as the Yukon and Alaska, and might well have invaded Eurasia had a suitable habitat corridor across Beringia been present.
Great American Interchange | The Great American Biotic Interchange
The species occurs throughout most rocky, wooded, brushy regions of the southern half of North America from southern Canada (Manitoba through southeastern Quebec) to the northern part of South America (Venezuela and Colombia), excluding the mountains of northwestern United States. It is the only canid whose natural range spans both North and South America. In some areas, high population densities exist near brush-covered bluffs.
Gray fox | Distribution and habitat
During the Pliocene, around 4–5 Mya, "Canis lepophagus" appeared in North America. This was small and sometimes coyote-like. Others were wolf-like in characteristics. "C. latrans" (the coyote) is theorized to have descended from "C. lepophagus". The formation of the Isthmus of Panama, about 3 Mya, joined South America to North America, allowing canids to invade South America, where they diversified. However, the most recent common ancestor of the South American canids lived in North America some 4 Mya and more than one incursion across the new land bridge is likely. One of the resulting lineages consisted of the gray fox ("Urocyon cinereoargentus") and the now-extinct dire wolf ("Canis dirus").
Canidae | Pliocene epoch
Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age. Archaeologists contend that Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago. This time range is a hot source of debate and promises to continue as such for years to come. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,000–13,000 years before present.
History of North America | The beginning of North America
The chromosome number is 66 (diploid) with a fundamental number of 70. The autosomes include 31 pairs of sub-graded subacrocentrics, but one only pair of metacentrics. Faunal remains at two northern California cave sites confirm the presence of the gray fox during the late Pleistocene. Genetic analysis has shown that the gray fox migrated into the northeastern United States post-Pleistocene in association with the Medieval Climate Anomaly warming trend. Recent mitochondrial genetic studies suggests divergence of North American eastern and western gray foxes in the Irvingtonian mid-Pleistocene into separate sister taxa. The gray fox's dwarf relative, the island fox, is likely descended from mainland gray foxes.
Gray fox | Origin and genetics
The treaty transferred the Red River Basin to the United States, consisting of northwestern Minnesota, northeastern North Dakota, and the northeastern tip of South Dakota.
Territorial evolution of North America since 1763 | December 11, 1816
Redheads leave their winter range in late January and February with all birds migrating by mid-March. In western North America, migrants begin arriving in Oregon, British Columbia] and Colorado in February. In central North America, migrants arrive as soon as temperatures open wetlands and lakes, which can range from late February (Nebraska) to early May (Alberta, Manitoba and Iowa). In the Great Lakes region and north-eastern North America, migrants will also arrive as soon as bodies of water open up.
Redhead (bird) | Spring
At that time, many North American animals—including peccaries, llamas and tapirs—entered South America, while some South American species, such as the ground sloths and opossums, migrated north. Several species of peccary across the genera Platygonus and Mylohyus remained in North America until their extinction following the colonization of the continent by humans via Beringia at the end of the Pleistocene. Today, 2 of the 3 species are relegated to the Neotropical realm, but the collared peccary ranges into northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Peccary | Evolution
Their range includes almost all of Mexico, extending north into the southwestern United States, and south to scattered portions of Central America, and parts of northwestern and central South America. It has ranged as far north as Canada. North American populations are generally resident, migrating only at the edge of the range. South American populations, especially those further south, may make long migrations to the northernmost parts of the Brazilian Amazon. This reflects a tendency to overwinter in areas where the temperature does not go below . Migrations may extend up to . North American populations generally migrate by late August and return between February and April.
Vermilion flycatcher | Distribution and habitat
Although many species of caviomorphs have migrated into Central America since the Great American Interchange, only a single living species, the North American porcupine, has naturally colonized North America north of Mexico (the extinct capybara "Neochoerus pinckneyi" also accomplished this feat). The nutria has been introduced into North America and has proven a highly successful invasive species there.
Caviomorpha | Diversity
According to hunters' accounts, they have less vigor and endurance in the chase compared to the European variant. Some authorities still give it full species status as "Vulpes fulva". It is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, occurring in North America. It is listed as least concern by the IUCN.
American red fox | Introduction
They embarked on a series of migrations through central and eastern Europe. Nearly extinct by the 18th century, the Hutterites migrated to Russia in 1770 and about a hundred years later to North America. Over the course of 140 years, their population living in community of goods recovered from about 400 to around 50,000 at present. Today, almost all Hutterites live in Western Canada and the upper Great Plains of the United States.
Hutterites | Introduction
They later remigrated to the United States.
Anders Henrik Bull | Introduction
There were two major migrations of sliders into South America during the Great American Interchange of the Cenozoic. During the first migration, which occurred about 7.1-8.6 million years ago, the last recent common ancestor of "T. medemi" and "T. dorbigni" spread from Central America into South America, with "T. dorbigni" expanding into the eastern parts of the continent while "T. medemi" remained in present-day Colombia. "T. medemi" diverged from "T. dorbigni" about 2.8-4.1 million years ago, with "T. dorbigni" diversifying about 1.9-2.3 million years ago. In the meantime, during the second migration of "Trachemys" sliders 2.2-2.5 million years ago, "T.
Atrato slider | Evolutionary history
Humans and animals migrated over the Bering Strait to populate the Americas. They then traveled over hundreds of years into what is now the United States. The animals that came from Asia include mastodons, mammoths, elk, bison, caribous, and muskox. Some of the earliest humans may have migrated through Canada to the Great Lakes region and then south from there, according to some archaeologists. During the time of the migration and until about 7,500 years ago, the Great Lakes extended south as far as Allen County, Ohio. The glaciers left bogs and small lakes and the flat Erie Plain along the Lake Erie shore.
Prehistory of Ohio | Background
Generally speaking, however, the dispersal and subsequent explosive adaptive radiation of sigmodontine rodents throughout South America (leading to ) was vastly more successful (both spatially and by number of species) than any northward migration of South American mammals. Other examples of North American mammal groups that diversified conspicuously in South America include canids and cervids, both of which currently have three or four genera in North America, two or three in Central America, and six in South America. Although members of "Canis" (specifically, coyotes) currently range only as far south as Panama, of canids than any other continent.
Great American Interchange | The Great American Biotic Interchange
The South American gray fox was introduced to the Falkland Islands in the late 1920s early 1930s and is still present in quite large numbers on Beaver and Weddell Islands plus several smaller islands. The South American gray fox occurs in a variety of habitats, from the warm, arid scrublands of the Argentine uplands and the cold, arid Patagonian steppe to the forests of southernmost Chile.
South American gray fox | Range and habitat
Western birds migrate through Great Basin to the Pacific Coast. In British Columbia, fall migration begins in September and continues through October. The Great Salt Lake region is of particular importance to migrants in western United States. Central North American redheads will begin migrating earlier, around August/September and go through the Great Plains to the Texas coast. Eastern populations will migrate through the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Coast or Florida from October to November. Most redheads winter along the Gulf of Mexico (offshore Louisiana, Florida and Mexico) however eastern populations will winter in South Carolina.
Redhead (bird) | Fall
The American red fox ("Vulpes vulpes fulvus"), commonly known as the eastern American red fox, is a North American subspecies of the red fox ("Vulpes vulpes"). Historically, red foxes were classified as two species: "Vulpes vulpes" in Eurasia and "Vulpes fulva" in the Americas (Tesky, 1995). Since 1959 they have been considered to be a singular species of "Vulpes vulpes", with "Vulpes vulpes fulvus" one of the 10 North American subspecies (Hall, 1981; Kamler & Ballard, 2002). The American red fox differs from European forms by the greater breadth of its feet, its longer fur, noticeably shorter nose and ears, and its finer brush.
American red fox | Introduction
The native peoples who migrated from other lands and settled in the North American Arctic also had to adapt to living conditions. Their population has declined since then, however.
North American Arctic | Introduction
A second migration occurred after the initial peopling of the Americas; Na Dene speakers found predominantly in North American groups at varying genetic rates with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskans at 42% derive from this second wave. Linguists and biologists have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups and ABO blood group system distributions. Then the people of the Arctic small tool tradition, a broad cultural entity that developed along the Alaska Peninsula, around Bristol Bay, and on the eastern shores of the Bering Strait moved into North America. The Arctic small tool tradition, a Paleo-Eskimo culture branched off into two cultural variants, including the Pre-Dorset, and the Independence traditions of Greenland.
Americas | Settlement
unguifera" vulnerable to threatening factors resulting from alterations to land use and fire regimes. The red fox ("Vulpes vulpes"), deliberately introduced during colonisation and a predator of "O. unguifera", is thought to have extirpated their southerly distribution range. As the fox extended its own range to the central regions of Australia, the mammal has had a major impact on the endemic population of small to medium-sized mammals, and this is recognised as a potential threatening factor if the red fox advances to the north of Australia. Research conducted by consultation with Aboriginal people of northern Australia, who are well acquainted and with the animal and capture it for food, indicated a stable population with only a slight decline in Arnhem Land.
Northern nail-tail wallaby | Distribution and habitat
This was followed by a single population of modern wolves expanding out of a Beringia refuge to repopulate the wolf's former range, replacing the remaining Late Pleistocene wolf populations across Eurasia and North America as they did so. This implies that if the coyote and red wolf were derived from this invasion, their histories date only tens of thousands and not hundreds of thousands of years ago, which is consistent with other studies.
Red wolf | Wolf genome
This species lives in western North America, ranging from British Columbia, Canada, in the north to California, United States, in the south. It ranges from the coast into Alberta and Montana. It may reach further, but current knowledge is based only on reported sightings.
Habronattus americanus | Habitat
Whether the Marmotini dispersed between North America and Eurasia via "island-hopping" across the Bering Straits or the Greenland region—both of which were temperate habitat at that time—and from which continent they dispersed to which, or if both continents brought forth distinct subtribes which then spread to the other, is not known and would probably require more fossil material to be resolved. In any case, the fairly comprehensive fossil record of Europe - at the relevant time separated from Asia by the Turgai Sea - lacks ancient Marmotini except the indeterminate "Palaeosciurus", which might be taken to indicate an East Asian or western North American origin with trans-Beringia dispersal being the slightly more satisfying hypothesis.
Ground squirrel | Evolution and systematics
Given the presence of "Gastornis" fossils in the early Eocene of western China, these birds may have spread east from Europe and crossed into North America via the Bering land bridge. "Gastornis" also may have spread both east and west, arriving separately in eastern Asia and in North America across the Turgai Strait. Direct landbridges with North America are also known. European "Gastornis" survived somewhat longer than their North American and Asian counterparts. This seems to coincide with a period of increased isolation of the continent.
Gastornis | Distribution
Their breeding habitat is fields in midwestern North America. They migrate in large flocks to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. They may occur as vagrants well outside of their normal range.
Dickcissel | Distribution and habitat
During the later Pleistocene epoch, between 240,000 and 220,000 years ago, steppe wisent ("B. priscus") migrated from Siberia into Alaska across the Bering Land Bridge. "Bison priscus" lived throughout North America from Alaska to southern Mexico throughout the remainder of the Pleistocene. In western North America, "B. priscus" evolved into long-horned bison, "B. latifrons", which then evolved into "B. antiquus". The larger "B. latifrons" appears to have disappeared by about 22,000 years ago likely because of evolutionary process to adapt into the new continent including increasing in population size. After the extinction of "B. latifrons", "B. antiquus" became increasingly abundant in parts of midcontinent North America from 18,000 until about 10,000 years ago, after which the species appears to have given rise to the living species, "B.
Bison antiquus | Biology
The last camel native to North America was "Camelops hesternus", which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.
Camel | Evolution
The Virginia opossum's ancestors evolved in South America, but spread into North America as part of the Great American Interchange, which occurred mainly after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago. "Didelphis" was apparently one of the later migrants, entering North America about 0.8 million years ago. It is now found throughout Central America and North America east of the Rockies from Costa Rica to southern Ontario and is expanding its range northward, northwesterly and northeasterly at a significant pace. Its pre-European settlement range was generally as far north as Maryland; southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; Missouri and Kansas.
Virginia opossum | Range
In the 1800s, millions of Eskimo curlews followed migration routes from the present Yukon and Northwest Territories, flying east along the northern shore of Canada, then south over the Atlantic Ocean to South America in the winter. When returning to North America, they would fly north through the Great Plains.
Eskimo curlew | Distribution and habitat
35,000 years ago. Mitochondrial haplogroups A, B and G originated about 50,000 years ago, and bearers subsequently colonized Siberia, Korea and Japan, by about 35,000 years ago. Parts of these populations migrated to North America during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Early human migrations | East and North Asia
Another test indicated that the red wolf diverged from the coyote between 55,000–117,000 years before present and the Great Lakes region wolf 32,000 years before present. Other tests and modelling showed various divergence ranges and the conclusion was a range of less than 6,000 and 117,000 years before present. The study found that coyote ancestry was highest in red wolves from the southeast of the United States and lowest among the Great Lakes region wolves. The theory proposed was that this pattern matched the south-to-north disappearance of the wolf due to European colonization and its resulting loss of habitat. Bounties led to the extirpation of wolves initially in the southeast, and as the wolf population declined wolf-coyote admixture increased.
Red wolf | Whole-genome evidence
They breed in marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows in Canada and the northern United States and on the Chukchi Peninsula, Russia. They are year-round residents on the U.S. Pacific coast. The eastern population migrates to the southern United States, the Caribbean, and to northern South America. It may be that climate change causes these birds to move to their breeding range earlier and leave later than 100 years ago. In Ohio for example, late April was recorded as an average migration date in 1906, but now most of the local population is present on the breeding grounds by then already.
Wilson's snipe | Breeding and habits
The fur of captive bred foxes was of a better quality than that of free ranging ones (worth $500–1,000 rather than $20–30) because of improved care and diet. These silver foxes were bred strictly with members of their own colour morph, and by the third generation, all residual traces of red or cross ancestry disappeared. The silver fox price boom in North America ended in 1914, but by the 1921, there were 300 farms throughout the USA. A well-known silver fox ranch of North America was that of Fred Colpitts from Salisbury, New Brunswick. Known as the “Colpitts Brothers”, Fred and James raised silver foxes in the early 1920s and used selective breeding to refine the fox colour.
Silver fox (animal) | In North America
for as long as 150 years, due to colonial era overhunting and destruction of its habitat: Dutch, French, and British colonial sources all attest to its presence in the mid 17th century from Maine south to areas within a hundred miles of present-day Manhattan. However, by the 1870s, only a handful of moose existed in this entire region in very remote pockets of forest; less than 20% of suitable habitat remained.
Moose | North America
The first inhabitants migrated into the Americas from Asia. Habitation sites are known in Alaska and the Yukon from at least 20,000 years ago, with suggested ages of up to 40,000 years. Beyond that, the specifics of the Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred during the late glacial maximum, from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered during the Quaternary glaciation.
Americas | Settlement
While the French had yet to settle in the area, their presence to the east started a chain reaction of tribal migration. The Huron, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and other eastern tribes all had encounters with the Ho-Chunk. The Sauk and Fox tribes, originally in the St Lawrence Valley, migrated first to southeastern Michigan. The Fox (Renard in French) also called themselves the Meshkwahkihaki and were also known as the Outigamie by the French. The Sac and Fox were uprooted again by eastern tribes and began to arrive in the Fox River Valley in the late 17th century. The Sac and Fox eventually drove most of the Ho-Chunk from the area.
Little Chute, Wisconsin | Native Americans
Even if some arrived in North America, this was probably uncommon.
Woolly rhinoceros | Habitat and distribution
It is possible, but as yet unproven, that some populations of "D. avus" may have persisted until the time of European contact. Forty years before the introduction of the gray fox on Tierra del Fuego, there are some ethnographic references to the existence of two species of foxes there. Around 1900, the indigenous Ona were recorded as recognizing two varieties of foxes, one of which grew to unusual size. If the "big fox" was "D. avus", this would indicate that it survived until the 20th century, at least in this location. In 1871 George Musters wrote a description of encountering a fox in Patagonia similar to a warrah, which may have been an account of this species.
Dusicyon avus | Dating of extinction
There were two major dispersals from two populations of genetically distinct coyotes. The first major dispersal to the northeast came in the early 20th century from those coyotes living in the northern Great Plains. These came to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada, and to Pennsylvania via the southern Great Lakes region, meeting together in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have hybridized with the remnant gray wolf and eastern wolf populations, which has added to coyote genetic diversity and may have assisted adaptation to the new niche. The second major dispersal to the southeast came in the mid-20th century from Texas and reached the Carolinas in the 1980s.
Coyote | Range
The loss of the tribe from North America may be related specialization of the beetles to specific plant hosts that were lost with due to the extensive climatic shifts during the Late Eocene - Early Oligocene transition.
Denaeaspis | History and classification
Gray wolves ("Canis lupus") migrated from Eurasia into North America 70,000–23,000 years ago and gave rise to at least two morphologically and genetically distinct groups. One group is represented by the extinct Beringian wolf and the other by the modern populations. One author proposes that the Mexican wolf's ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to cross the Bering Land Bridge into North America during the Late Pleistocene after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, colonizing most of the continent until pushed southwards by the newly arrived ancestors of "C. l. nubilus". A haplotype is a group of genes found in an organism that are inherited together from one of their parents.
Mexican wolf | Lineage
The red fox is a wide-ranging species. Its range covers nearly including as far north as the Arctic Circle. It occurs all across Europe, in Africa north of the Sahara Desert, throughout Asia apart from extreme Southeast Asia, and across North America apart from most of the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is absent in Iceland, Greenland, Arctic islands, the most northern parts of central Siberia, and in extreme deserts. It is not present in New Zealand and is classed as a "prohibited new organism" under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, which does not allow import.
Red fox | Distribution and habitat
In the autumn of 1851, he moved north collecting large quantities of seed from the sugar pine ("Pinus lambertiana"), and the western white pine ("Pinus monticola"); he also collected sackfuls of seed from the world's tallest tree, the California redwood ("Sequoia sempervirens"), which had been first introduced by Patrick Matthew to Britain in 1853.
William Lobb | North America (1849–1853)
At the time, this was one of the earliest indications of human activity in the Americas. The evidence suggested that the introduction of the Clovis point coincided with the extinction of the megafauna on the continent; furthermore, it was believed that these people came to the Americas from Siberia through the Bering land bridge – a stretch of land that resulted from low sea levels during the Wisconsin glaciation. It is hypothesized that this allowed for migration between 14,500 and 14,000 BP. In February 2014, as published in "Nature", researchers reported on the results of DNA analysis of Anzick boy, a 2018-era skeleton, supported this theory in two directions: his DNA showed a connection to an estimated 80 percent of the Native Americans in both the Americas, as well as being connected to ancestral peoples in Siberia or northeast Asia.
Cactus Hill | Significance
The northern birds that breed in migrate south in the winter, and individuals that breed in inland and upland locales often move to the coastal lowlands in winter, where the weather is milder. Winter habitat can be deciduous or coniferous woodland. This species’ winter range extends south to Baja California in Mexico.
Red-breasted sapsucker | Migration
Cross foxes are relatively common in the northern areas of North America, and comprise up to 30% of Canada's red fox population. Cross foxes were once abundant in Idaho and Utah before being largely killed off. Cross foxes are occasionally reported in Scandinavia, having been described by Conrad Gessner and Olaus Magnus. A study based on nearly 3,000 skins of the red fox in Finland, revealed that 99% were of the reddish form, with cross foxes comprising only 0.3% of the remaining 1%.
Cross fox | Distribution
Fox cited the success he claimed countries Republic of Ireland and Spain had in modernizing their economies and raising the standard of living for their citizens by joining what is now the European Union. Vicente Fox also proposed a plan to U.S. President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that he said would move the North American continent towards an economic union based on the example of the European Union. Fox's proposal was rejected by President Bush, with Fox later alleging in his book "Revolution of Hope" that the White House wanted him to "stop raising hackles" by talking about a North American Union.
North American Union | History
in 2015 estimated that the Central American squirrel monkey diverged from "S. scuireus" a little less than 1 million years ago. One popular theory is that squirrel monkeys did live in Colombia during the late Miocene or Pliocene and these squirrel monkeys migrated to Central America, becoming the ancestors of the current Central American species. According to this theory, the Guatemalan black howler migrated to Central America around the same time. Passage through the isthmus of Panama later closed due to rising oceans, and eventually opened up to another wave of migration about 2 million years ago. These later migrants, ancestors to modern populations of white-headed capuchins, mantled howlers and Geoffroy's spider monkeys, out-competed the earlier migrants, leading to the small range of the Central American squirrel monkey and Guatemalan black howler.
Central American squirrel monkey | Conservation status
It has been generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 12,000 years ago; however, increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival. The Clovis culture, which appeared around 11,000 BC, is believed to represent the first wave of human settlement of the Americas. This was likely the first of three major waves of migration into North America; later waves brought the forerunners of present-day Athabaskans, Aleuts and Eskimos. Over time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly complex, and some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the southeast, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies.
United States | Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history
John Morton, the politician who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence on behalf of Pennsylvania in 1776, was his great-grandson. Migration to North America from Finland continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was very sporadic in nature and only a few individuals and groups dared make the move. This was largely due to the long distance between Europe and America, and the difficulties associated with crossing it. However, as the Industrial Revolution began with the turn of the 19th century, bringing with it such technological innovations as railways and steam ships, these obstacles slowly began to disappear.
Finnish Americans | First migrants (1640–1870)
During the Pleistocene, the North American wolf line appeared, with "Canis edwardii", clearly identifiable as a wolf, and "Canis rufus" appeared, possibly a direct descendant of "C. edwardii". Around 0.8 Mya, "Canis ambrusteri" emerged in North America. A large wolf, it was found all over North and Central America and was eventually supplanted by its descendant, the dire wolf, which then spread into South America during the Late Pleistocene. By 0.3 Mya, a number of subspecies of the gray wolf ("C. lupus") had developed and had spread throughout Europe and northern Asia. The gray wolf colonized North America during the late Rancholabrean era across the Bering land bridge, with at least three separate invasions, with each one consisting of one or more different Eurasian gray wolf clades.
Canidae | Pleistocene epoch
Furthermore, the closest extant relatives of the species that became extinct around the Clovis period could be introduced to North America's nature reserves as well. In particular, the Indian and African elephants could substitute, respectively, for the mammoth and the mastodon; the Chacoan peccary, for its extinct cousin the flat-headed peccary ("Platygonus compressus"). Llamas and panthers, which still survive outside of the US, should too be brought back to that country.
Tim Flannery | Species acclimatisation
This bird may have reached America either from Asia or from Europe (Greenland/Iceland). It is the extant parental species of one of the "Spinus"/"Carduelis" three evolutive North American radiations of "atriceps", "pinus" and "dominicenses" finches. It has been recorded both in the Aleutian Islands and the east: the Labrador Peninsula and St. Lawrence River mouth (Canada). This raises the possibility that this bird entered (or may still try to enter) America through Greenland/Iceland from Western Europe.
Eurasian siskin | Evolution
The formation of the Isthmus of Panama led to the last and most conspicuous wave, the great interchange (GABI), starting around 2.7 Ma ago. This included the immigration into South America of North American ungulates (including camelids, tapirs, deer and horses), proboscids (gomphotheres), carnivorans (including felids such as cougars and saber-toothed cats, canids, mustelids, procyonids and bears) and a number of types of rodents. The larger members of the reverse migration, besides ground sloths and terror birds, were glyptodonts, pampatheres, capybaras, and the notoungulate "Mixotoxodon" (the only South American ungulate known to have invaded Central America). In general, the initial net migration was symmetrical.
Great American Interchange | The Great American Biotic Interchange
By the 1850s British North America had reached a critical stage in its development. Since the 1837 Rebellions in Upper Canada and Lower Canada there had been an increase in immigration and construction of canals and rail lines. In the Canadas agricultural land was becoming scarcer and higher in price. In the North-West, fur trade networks were becoming unstable with the future of the west remaining in the control of the Hudson's Bay Company unlikely. New agricultural land was needed by people in Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Out of this need for a land a movement of expansionism was created in Upper Canada.
Henry Youle Hind | 1857 Red River Expedition
North America is home to many native mammal species. Several species of deer, including elk, caribou, moose, mule deer, and the abundant white-tailed deer are found throughout various regions, along with the bison and musk ox in the central and northern plains, respectively. Three species of bear, several subspecies of wolf, and various other carnivores such as raccoons, skunks, and cats including cougars and lynxes are widely distributed. The family Mustelidae is well represented, including badgers, otters, ferrets, and wolverines. Numerous species of squirrels and other rodents, such as beavers and muskrats, can be found in virtually every region of the continent.
Geography of North America | Zoology
Vagrants on the spring migration have been sighted on Bear Island, Iceland and Svalbard, and in Alaska, Oregon and Saskatchewan in North America. "C. c. columbianus" breeds in the coastal plains of Alaska and Canada, leaving for winter quarters about October. They arrive in winter quarters by November/December. Birds breeding in western Alaska winter along the Pacific coast from southern Alaska to California; they often move inland – particularly to the rich feeding grounds in the Californian Central Valley – and some cross the Rocky Mountains again and winter as far east as Utah and south to Texas and northern Mexico.
Tundra swan | Distribution
The Vorohué Formation of Argentina has provided older fossils, dating to the Uquian to Ensenadan (Late Pliocene).
South American fox | Introduction
Red wolves were originally distributed throughout the southeastern and south-central United States from the Atlantic Ocean to central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Illinois in the west, and in the north from the Ohio River Valley, northern Pennsylvania and southern New York south to the Gulf of Mexico. The red wolf was nearly driven to extinction by the mid-1900s due to aggressive predator-control programs, habitat destruction, and extensive hybridization with coyotes. By the late 1960s, it occurred in small numbers in the Gulf Coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas. Fourteen of these survivors were selected to be the founders of a captive-bred population, which was established in the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium between 1974 and 1980.
Red wolf | History
Castello (2018) recognizes nine subspecies of the North American red fox, as listed below:
American red fox | Subspecies
Between 1960 and 1980, approximately 60% of the active population emigrated to the United States and Canada.
Fajã Grande | Human geography
While some English immigrants were drawn by dreams of creating model utopian societies in America, most others were attracted by the lure of new lands, textile factories, railroads, and the expansion of mining. A number of English settlers moved to the United States from Australia in the 1850s (then a British political territory), when the California Gold Rush boomed; these included the so-called "Sydney Ducks" ("see Australian Americans").
English Americans | English immigration after 1776
Before contact with Europeans, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, from small bands of a few families to large empires. Modern anthropology assigns some larger divisions into various "culture areas", regions within which a particular set of cultural, political, subsistence and/or linguistic traits predominated. These pre-Columbian American culture areas may also roughly correspond to particular geographic and biological zones of the continent. During the thousands of years of native inhabitation on the continent, cultures changed and shifted. One of the oldest cultures yet found is that of the Clovis peoples. Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the "New World", Native American population declined substantially, primarily due to the introduction of European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity.
Territorial evolution of North America prior to 1763 | Introduction
Russians began to live in Unalaska on the Aleutian islands.
Territorial evolution of North America prior to 1763 | 1759
The popularity of fox hunting in Great Britain reached a peak during the 1700s. Although already native to North America, red foxes from England were imported for sporting purposes to Virginia and Maryland in 1730 by prosperous tobacco planters. These American fox hunters considered the red fox more sporting than the grey fox. Red foxes are still widely persecuted as pests, with human-caused deaths among the highest causes of mortality in the species. Annual red fox kills are: UK 21,500–25,000 (2000); Germany 600,000 (2000–2001); Austria 58,000 (2000–2001); Sweden 58,000 (1999–2000); Finland 56,000 (2000–2001); Denmark 50,000 (1976–1977); Switzerland 34,832 (2001); Norway 17,000 (2000–2001); Saskatchewan (Canada) 2,000 (2000–2001); Nova Scotia (Canada) 491 (2000–2001); Minnesota (US) 4,000–8,000 (average annual trapping harvest 2002–2009); New Mexico (US) 69 (1999–2000).
Red fox | Hunting
The coastal migration hypothesis of the settlement of the Americas suggests that the first North Americans may have been here as the oldest human remains known from Alaska or Canada are from On Your Knees Cave. Anthropologists have found striking parallels between the myths, rituals, and dwelling types of the Koryaks—inhabitants of the Kamchatka Peninsula—and those of the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At this time the island was twice as large as today. There is strong genetic evidence for these early people having an origin there. The Koryaks were a matrilineal seafaring people hunting whales and other marine mammals.
Haida Gwaii | Pre-colonial era