Black squirrel in Stanley Park, Vancouver (A melanistic subgroup of the Eastern Gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - Fotografia de stock

Photograph taken off Park Lane and Stanley Park Drive at 14:14Pm on a Springtime afternoon in April in the grounds of Stanley Park, a 405-hectare public park that borders the downtown area of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Here we see a black squirrel found in abundance within the park. It is actually an Eastern Gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), first introduced into the park in 1912, though a melanistic subgroup with black fur all over and no white underbelly. These morphs are a result of a faulty pigemant gene, though it is also thought that the darker colouration is a genetic advantage, offering thermal advantages over it's grey and white counter part.