The western woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus'') is a species of very large flying squirrel in the genus ''

Eupetaurus ''Eupetaurus'' is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Members of this genus are known as woolly flying squirrels. They are large to very large flying squirrels found in the highest rocky cliffs near the Tree line, treeline of the Himalayas ...

''. It is native to northern

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was long considered the only species in the genus until the description of two other species in 2021. Until recently, scientific knowledge of this rare species was limited to 11 skins collected in the late nineteenth century. However, recent research has confirmed that it remains in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. It is among the longest members of the family Sciuridae, and one of the biggest gliding animals known. Observations confirm that despite its size, it does glide effectively, like other

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they ar ...

Distribution and description

Woolly Flying Squirrel in Skardu, Pakistan

''E. cinereus'' has been recorded in northern Pakistan in the area around

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

. These areas include

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

Astor Astor may refer to: People * Astor (surname) * Astor family, a wealthy 18th-century American family who became prominent in 20th-century British politics * Astor Bennett, a character in the Showtime television series ''Dexter'' * Ástor Piazzol ...

and Skardu. Since 1994, specimens have been captured in the Sai Valley, Gorabad, and Balti Gali, all in northern Pakistan.Zahler and Woods, 1997 In 2004, the animal was videotaped by Dinets in Raikot Valley near Nanga Parbat, Pakistan. A 2012 study revealed the extension of distributional range of woolly flying squirrel in upper Neelum valley,

Azad Jammu & Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

. A live specimen captured in this area provided an uncontroversial evidence of its presence in Neelum valley. Sighting and other indirect evidences were also noted at seven different study sites of the area. Neelum valley is adjacent to Northern Areas of Pakistan. It has also been discovered in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

and Jigme Dorji National Park in Bhutan, indicating that it may have a wider range than previously thought. The preferred habitat appears to be high elevation conifer forests associated with cliffs and caves. Other specimens have been purchased from a bazaar in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, collected in Tibet, and collected in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, but these are now known to be distinct species from ''E. cinereus''. Its habitat is mainly characterized by steep slopes, difficult to approach cliffs and mixed vegetation including ''Abies pindrow'', ''Betula utilis'', ''Juniperus macropoda'', ''Pinus wallichiana'', ''Taxus wallichiana'', ''Skimmia laureola'', ''Potentilla eriocarpa'', ''Poa bactriana'', ''Bergenia stracheyi'', ''Artemisia vulgaris'', and ''Bistorta affinis''. Habitat degradation due to deforestation and livestock grazing may be the major factors adversely affecting the general habitat in the study area and this species might have negative consequences.Qamar et al., 2012 This species is one of the largest squirrels with a head-and-body length of , tail length of and a weight of . The only flying squirrels with similar dimensions are a few species in the genera ''

Biswamoyopterus ''Biswamoyopterus'' is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It contains three known species of very large flying squirrels, with '' B. laoensis'' being among the longest of all squirrels. They are distributed in forests in northeast India, ...

'' and ''

Petaurista ''Petaurista'' is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae. They are large to very large flying squirrels found in forests and other wooded habitats in southern and eastern Asia. Like other flying squirrels, they are mostly nocturnal and able ...

'', and among other tree-living squirrels only the '' Ratufa'' giant squirrels. It has fur that is long and thick, with a grizzled pattern that gives the appearance of a woolly pelage, thus the name. This distinguishes it from the other two species in the genus ''

'', which have a more saturated brown pelage.

Relationships

The western woolly flying squirrel is thought to have diverged from the other eastern and central species of ''

'' between 4.5 to 10.2 million years ago, with the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and

Yarlung Tsangpo The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Dan ...

rivers serving as barriers and allowing for divergence.

Conservation status

The western woolly flying squirrel was thought to be extinct for 70 years until being rediscovered in 1994 by Dr. Peter Zahler, of the Wildlife Conservation Society. The species is currently considered "Endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

References

Sources

* Din, J. Ud., Khan, M., Ghaznavi, M., Shah, K. A., Younus, M. (2015)
Note on the Giant Woolly Gliding Squirrel ''Eupetaurus cinereus'' (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in northern Pakistan
Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(9): 7602–7604. *Qamar, Z. Q., Ali, U., Minhas, R. A., Dar, N. I. and Anwar, M. (2012). New Distribution Information on Woolly Flying Squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus'' Thomas, 1888) in Neelum Valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Zoology, 44(5): 1333–1342. *Dinets, V. (2011). Observations of woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus'') in Nanga Parbat Range of northern Pakistan. ''Mammalia'' 75(3): 277–280. *Zahler, P. (1996). Rediscovery of the woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus''). ''Journal of Mammalogy'' 77: 54–57. *Zahler, P. (2001). The woolly flying squirrel and gliding: does size matter? ''Acta Theriologica'' 46: 429–435. *Zahler, P. and M. Khan. (2003). Evidence for dietary specialization on pine needles by the woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus''). Journal of Mammalogy, 84(2): 480–486. *Zahler, P. and C. A. Woods. (1997). The status of the woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus'') in Northern Pakistan. pp 495–514 in ''Biodiversity of Pakistan'' (S. A. Mufti, C. A, Woods, and S. A. Hasan eds.). Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Islamabad.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1404332

Western woolly flying squirrel The western woolly flying squirrel (''Eupetaurus cinereus'') is a species of very large flying squirrel in the genus ''Eupetaurus''. It is native to northern Pakistan and northwestern India. It was long considered the only species in the genus un ...

Rodents of India Rodents of Pakistan