How Canadian are they? 

When some people think of the “most Canadian” species, the beaver or moose may come to mind. But in a recent paper published in The Canadian Field-Naturalist, scientists looking at evolutionary distinctness in Canada found that may not actually be the case. Instead, amphibian and reptile species in Canada are the most evolutionarily distinct species—the most distinct terrestrial animal was the spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera), they found. Other species include the mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus), northern alligator (Elgaria coerulea), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) and the pond slider (Trachemys scripta). “We weren’t surprised by the opossum,” said Emma Kominek, a master’s student at Simon Fraser University who collated the lists. “It’s Canada’s only marsupial. But the aquatic mudpuppy salamander? That was interesting.” To conduct the study. Kominek and her colleagues created family trees to develop scores of evolutionary distinction in the country. They looked at 222 mammals, 674 birds, 48 amphibians and 49 reptiles. The team said these findings are important for conservation purposes. “Conservation of species at risk is often done at the national level,” said lead author of the paper Arne Mooers, a biological sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, who sits on the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. “So, it made sense to consider our national evolutionary heritage in this way.” 
  
Read the study in The Canadian Field-Naturalist.