The Indian giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista philippensis''), also called the large brown flying squirrel or the common giant flying squirrel, is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

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 chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

. It is capable of gliding flight using a skin membrane stretched between front and hind legs. It is found in mainland Southeast and South Asia, and southern and central China.

Description

This is a large species, with a head and body length of about 43 cm and a tail of 50–52 cm. It has black to gray-brown fur, long and soft on the upper parts and somewhat shorter underneath the body, with a grizzled appearance. A wing membrane between the forelimb and hindlimb, paler coloured underneath, allows gliding between trees. The tail is hairy and blackish to gray-brown, the feet are black, and the nose is pale pink with black

vibrissae Vibrissae (; singular: vibrissa; ), more generally called Whiskers, are a type of stiff, functional hair used by mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarser ...

Taxonomy

Its

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

is very complex and not fully resolved. Up until the 1980s, some authorities even listed the Indian giant flying squirrel itself as 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

red giant flying squirrel The red giant flying squirrel or common giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista petaurista'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae (squirrels). It is found in a wide variety of forest–types, plantations and more open habitats with scatter ...

(''P. petaurista''). In 2005, ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

'' included ''

grandis Grandis may refer to: * Grandis (company), a company producing magnetoresistive random-access memory * Grandis (company), a company producing High quality Italian racing bicycles * Grandis (surname) * Mitsubishi Grandis, a large multi-purpose vehic ...

'', '' yunanensis'', ''hainana'', '' nigra'', ''rubicundus'' and ''rufipes'' (last four as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''yunanensis'') in the Indian giant flying squirrel. Later studies have confirmed that all these are distinct and not closely related to the Indian giant flying squirrel; placing them together would result in a strongly

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

"species". As a consequence, recent authorities have generally recognized them as part of the red giant flying squirrel or as their own species; the

Formosan giant flying squirrel The red giant flying squirrel or common giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista petaurista'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae (squirrels). It is found in a wide variety of forest–types, plantations and more open habitats with scatter ...

(''P. grandis'') of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, Hainan giant flying squirrel (''P. hainana'') of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, and Yunnan giant flying squirrel (''P. yunanensis'') in northeastern India, south-central China, Myanmar, northern Laos and northern Vietnam (the extent of its range in the last three countries is labelled with considerable uncertainty). The Formosan and Hainan giant flying squirrels have fully separate ranges, but the Yunnan giant flying squirrel is

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with the Indian giant flying squirrel.

Distribution, habitat and taxonomy

The species is native to China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It inhabits dry deciduous and evergreen forest, usually at higher elevations from and has been recorded on plantations.

Ecology

The Indian giant flying squirrel is nocturnal and arboreal, spending most of its life in the canopy. Nests are made in tree hollows lined with bark, fur, moss, and leaves. The species is sociable when food is abundant, but intraspecies attacks increase with food scarcity. Vocalizations are similar to those of the

spot-bellied eagle-owl The spot-bellied eagle-owl (''Bubo nipalensis''), also known as the forest eagle-owl is a large bird of prey with a formidable appearance. It is a forest-inhabiting species found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. This species is con ...

Diet

The species is mainly frugivorous, preferring the fruits of ''

Ficus racemosa ''Ficus racemosa'', the cluster fig, red river fig or gular, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Australia and tropical Asia. It is a fast-growing plant with large, very rough leaves, usually attaining the size of a lar ...

'', followed by ''

Cullenia ''Cullenia'' is a genus of flowering plants native to India and Sri Lanka. Earlier classification schemes place the genus in the kapok-tree family (Bombacaceae), but the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group places it in the mallow family (Malvaceae). The ...

'' and ''

Artocarpus heterophyllus The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, Sri ...

''. It also takes bark, tree resins, shoots, leaves (particularly of ''F. racemosa''), insects, and larvae. Squirrels were shown to be somewhat tolerant of disturbance when foraging, and to exploit food resources at the forest edge, including exotic planted species.

Reproduction

Female gives birth to a single offspring during mid June. Pups born blind, with a head that is disproportionately large when compared with the body.

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution, habitat and taxonomy

Ecology

Diet

Reproduction

See also

References

Further reading