The hairy-footed flying squirrel (''Belomys pearsonii'') is a flying squirrel found in the mountains of the eastern

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

, southern China, and the

island of Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

. It lives at elevations of above sea level. The

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

is red-brown on the top and white at the bottom. Characteristic are the long hair at the feet, which even covers the claws to protect against the cold in the higher altitudes. The body has a length of about 22 cm; the tail is another 13 cm long.

Taxonomy and systematics

As hairy-footed flying squirrel is related to the complex-toothed flying squirrel, some taxonomists have included the species to the genus ''

Trogopterus The complex-toothed flying squirrel (''Trogopterus xanthipes'') occurs in the southern Chinese provinces Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan. The common name refers to the teeth, which differ from those of other species of flying squirre ...

''. However, its status as distinct genus is now generally accepted. The species is named after John Thomas Pearson. There are four subspecies: ''Belomys pearsonii pearsonii'', ''B. m. blandus'', ''B. m. kaleensis'', and ''B. m. trichotis''. ''B. m. kaleensis'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Taiwan. It appears to be genetically distinct from Vietnamese specimens, which themselves represented two distinct lineages (of unknown subspecies). All three lineages are distinct enough to be recognized as separate species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1360095 Flying squirrels Rodents of Asia Mammals of Bhutan Rodents of China Rodents of India Rodents of Laos Rodents of Myanmar Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Taiwan Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Vietnam Mammals described in 1842 Taxa named by John Edward Gray