''Biswamoyopterus'' is a genus 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 n ...

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 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 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 ...

, southwest China and Laos. Despite their size, species in this genus tend to be very elusive; due to this, all of them have been described relatively recently. Additionally, they are easily confused with certain ''

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 abl ...

'' giant flying squirrels that are more common and overlap in range with the rare ''Biswamoyopterus''.

Species

There are currently three known species in this genus: * Namdapha flying squirrel ''Biswamoyopterus biswasi'' *

Laotian giant flying squirrel The Laotian giant flying squirrel (''Biswamoyopterus laoensis'') is an arboreal, flying squirrel endemic to Laos. It was the second described member in the genus ''Biswamoyopterus'', after being first collected in September 2012 by scientists res ...

''Biswamoyopterus laoensis'' * Mount Gaoligong flying squirrel ''Biswamoyopterus gaoligongensis''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10740238 Biswamoyopterus Rodent genera