The Himalayan large-eared flying squirrel (''Priapomys leonardi'') is a species of

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 ...

found in southwestern

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in 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 Kunming. The province borders the C ...

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 ...

, and adjoining

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. It is the only member of the genus ''Priapomys''.

Taxonomy

''P. leonardi'' was formerly considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

particolored flying squirrel The particolored flying squirrel (''Hylopetes alboniger'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical ...

(''Hylopetes alboniger'') as ''H. a. leonardi''. It was initially described as a species of '' Pteromys'' from a single specimen collected in

in 1921 by

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

, which remained the only record of the taxon for over 90 years. Future taxonomic treatments, without serious review of the taxon, considered it a subspecies of ''H. alboniger'', and other treatments outright considered it synonymous with ''H. alboniger''. In surveys from 2014 to 2016, whose results were published in 2021, several flying squirrels morphologically very similar to the original ''H. a. leonardi'' specimen were collected on Mt. Gaoligong 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 ...

; genetic analysis performed upon these found these to not only represent their own species, but a completely separate genus most closely related to ''

Iomys ''Iomys'' is a small genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipm ...

'', a genus of flying squirrel restricted to

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...

. This new genus was named ''Priapomys'' after the Greek fertility god

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...

, as reference to the very large glans penis of male members of this species. The

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

recognizes these results. ''Priapomys'' and ''Iomys'' are thought to have diverged during the mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Description

This species has a larger external ear than most other flying squirrels, and has a less-developed

uropatagium The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosaurs, ...

. It can also be differentiated by aspects in the development of its

cheek teeth Cheek teeth or post-canines comprise the molar and premolar teeth in mammals. Cheek teeth are multicuspidate (having many folds or tubercles). Mammals have multicuspidate molars (three in placentals, four in marsupials, in each jaw quadrant) and ...

, as well as its larger glans penis.

Conservation

Due to its small body size, this species is not actively hunted or poached, but it is indiscriminately caught in traps set for hunting meat by visiting herb collectors. This species has also been observed being sold in wet markets in the vicinity of Mt. Gaoligong. Despite its small range, this species is not thought to be extremely threatened, and thus it has been proposed that it be classified as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108479845 Flying squirrels Mammals described in 1921 Rodents of China Rodents of Myanmar Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas