Petaurista Explained

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.^[1]

Like other flying squirrels, they are mostly nocturnal and able to glide (not actually fly like a bat) long distances between trees by spreading out their patagium, skin between their limbs. They feed primarily on plant material, but will also take small animals such as insects.^[1]

Taxonomy

The species level taxonomy is very complex and not fully resolved.^[2] In 2005, Mammal Species of the World recognised eight species, but later studies have found that some of these were highly polyphyletic,^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} and recent authorities have often recognised some of the most divergent "subspecies" as valid species.^{[1] [2] [7]} Additionally, three new species were described from northeastern India in 2007–2013, although their validity needs to be confirmed.^[8]

Living species

Eight species were recognised in Mammal Species of the World in 2005:

• Red and white giant flying squirrel, Petaurista alborufus Milne-Edwards, 1870
• Spotted giant flying squirrel, Petaurista elegans Müller, 1840
• Japanese giant flying squirrel, Petaurista leucogenys Temminck, 1827
• Hodgson's giant flying squirrel, Petaurista magnificus Hodgson, 1836
• Bhutan giant flying squirrel, Petaurista nobilis Gray, 1842
• Red giant flying squirrel, Petaurista petaurista Pallas, 1766
• Indian giant flying squirrel, Petaurista philippensis Elliot, 1839
• Chinese giant flying squirrel, Petaurista xanthotis Milne-Edwards, 1872

Seven additional species now often recognised, but traditionally considered subspecies:^{[2] [6]}

• White-bellied giant flying squirrel, Petaurista albiventer Gray, 1834
• Grey-headed giant flying squirrel, Petaurista caniceps Gray, 1842
• Formosan giant flying squirrel, Petaurista grandis Swinhoe, 1863
• Hainan giant flying squirrel, Petaurista hainana G. Allen, 1925
• Taiwan giant flying squirrel, Petaurista lena Thomas, 1907
• Spotted giant flying squirrel, Petaurista marica Thomas, 1912
• Chindwin giant flying squirrel, Petaurista sybilla Thomas and Wroughton, 1916

Three new species that were described by Anwaruddin Choudhury from Arunachal Pradesh in 2007–2013:^{[9] [10] [11]}

• Mechuka giant flying squirrel, Petaurista mechukaensis Choudhury, 2007
• Mishmi giant flying squirrel, Petaurista mishmiensis Choudhury, 2009
• Mebo giant flying squirrel, Petaurista siangensis Choudhury, 2013

Extinct species

In addition to the living species, there are a few extinct species that only are known from fossil remains from the Mid and Late Pleistocene in China, the Russian Far East and Germany:^{[2] [12]}

• †Petaurista brachyodus Young, 1934
• †Petaurista helleri Dehm, 1962
• †Petaurista tetyukhensis Tiunov & Gimranov, 2019

Notes and References

1. Book: Jackson, S.M. . 2012 . Gliding Mammals of the World . CSIRO Publishing . 112–135 . 9780643092600 .
2. Jackson, S.M. . R.W. Thorington Jr. . 2012 . Gliding Mammals – Taxonomy of Living and Extinct Species . Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology . 638 . 638 . 1–117 . 10.5479/si.00810282.638.1 .
3. Oshida, T. . C.M. Shafique . S. Barkati . Y. Fujita . L.-K. Lin . R. Masuda . 2004 . A Preliminary Study on Molecular Phylogeny of Giant Flying Squirrels, Genus Petaurista (Rodentia, Sciuraidae) Based on Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Sequences . Russian Journal of Theriology . 3 . 1 . 15–24 . 10.15298/rusjtheriol.03.1.04 . free .
4. Yu, F.R. . F.H. Yu . J.F. Peng . C.W. Kilpatrick . P.M. McGuire . Y.X. Wang . S.Q. Lu . C.A. Woods . 2006 . Phylogeny and biogeography of the Petaurista philippensis complex (Rodentia: Sciuridae), inter- and intraspecific relationships inferred from molecular and morphometric analysis . Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. . 38 . 3 . 755–766 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.002 . 16414285 .
5. Oshida, T. . etal . 2010 . Phylogenetics of Petaurista in light of specimens collected from northern Vietnam . Mammal Study . 35 . 85–91 . 10.3106/041.035.0107 . 85670447 .
6. Li, S. . K. He . F.-H. Yu . Q.-S. Yang . 2013 . Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Petaurista Inferred from the Cytochrome b Gene, with Implications for the Taxonomic Status of P. caniceps, P. marica and P. sybilla . PLOS ONE . 8 . 7 . e70461 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0070461 . 23922995 . 3724786 . free .
7. Book: Francis, C.M. . 2019 . A Guide to the Mammals of Southeast Asia . 164–167, 362–364 . New Holland Publishers . 2 . 978-1-4729-3497-0 .
8. Krishna, M.C. . A. Kumar . O.P. Tripathi . J.L. Koprowski . 2016 . Diversity, Distribution and Status of Gliding Squirrels in Protected and Non-protected Areas of the Eastern Himalayas in India . Hystrix: The Italian Journal of Mammalogy . 27 . 2 . 1–9 . 10.4404/hystrix-27.2-11688 .
9. Choudhury, A.U. . 2007 . A new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link from Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India . Newsletter and Journal of the Rhino Foundation for Nat. In NE India . 7 . 26–32 .
10. Choudhury, A.U. . 2009 . One more new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link, 1795 from Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India . Newsletter and Journal of the Rhino Foundation for Nat. In NE India . 8 . 26–34 .
11. Choudhury, A.U. . 2013 . Descriptions of a new species of giant flying squirrel of genus Petaurista Link, 1795 from Siang basin, Arunachal Pradesh in North East India . Newsletter and Journal of the Rhino Foundation for Nat. In NE India . 9 . 30–38 .
12. Tiunov, M.P. . D.O. Gimranov . 2019 . The first fossil Petaurista (Mammalia: Sciuridae) from the Russian Far East and its paleogeographic significance . Palaeoworld . 29 . 176–181 . 10.1016/j.palwor.2019.05.007 . 10995/92658 . free .