flying squirrel

Flying squirrel Fossil range: Early Oligocene - Recent
Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Subfamily:	Sciurinae
Tribe:	Pteromyini Brandt, 1855
Genera
Aeretes Aeromys Belomys Biswamoyopterus Eoglaucomys Eupetaurus Glaucomys Hylopetes Iomys Petaurillus Petaurista Petinomys Pteromys Pteromyscus Trogopterus

A flying squirrel gliding

Flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels (family Sciuridae).

Description

Flying squirrels are incapable of sustained flight, instead they glide between trees, with flights recorded to 90 meters.^[1][2] The direction and speed of the animal in midair is varied by changing the positions of its two arms and legs, largely controlled by small cartilaginous wrist bones.^[3] This changes the tautness of the patagium, a furry parachute-like membrane that stretches from wrist to ankle.^[3] It has a fluffy tail that stabilizes in flight. The tail acts as an adjunct airfoil, working as an air brake before landing on a tree trunk.^[4]

Behavior

Though their life expectancy in the wild is six years, flying squirrels may live fifteen years in captivity. This is due to these creatures being important prey animals. Predation mortality rates in sub-adults are high. Predators include arboreal snakes, raccoons, nocturnal owls, martens, fishers, coyotes, and the domestic cat.^[1] In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) is a well-known predator. Flying squirrels are nocturnal,^[5] flying at night as they are not adept in escaping birds of prey that hunt during daylight.^[1]

Life Stages

The life stages of a flying squirrel vary from the individual, region, sub-specie, and more. The mating season for them is between February to March. When the young ones are born, the female squirrels live with them in maternal nest sites. They nurture and protect them until they leave the nest. The males don’t take part in the process of nurturing their children. ^[6]

At birth, they are mostly hairless besides their whiskers and most of their senses aren’t present. The internal organs are visible through the skin and their sex can be signified. By week 5 of their life, they are almost fully furred and developed. At that point, they can also respond to the things around their environment and start to mature a mind of their own. Through the upcoming weeks of their lives, they practice leaping and gliding. After 2 and a half months, their gliding skills are perfected, they are ready to leave their habitat and are capable of independent survival. ^[7]

Diet

Flying squirrels can easily forage for food in the night, given their highly developed sense of smell, where they hunt for fungi, nuts, fruits and bird eggs.^[1][8] Gliding conserves energy.^[2]

Taxonomy

The largest of the species is the woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus cinereus). The two species of the genus Glaucomys (Glaucomys sabrinus and Glaucomys volans) are native to North America, and the Siberian flying squirrel is native to parts of northern Europe (Pteromys volans).

Thorington and Hoffman (2005) recognize 15 genera of flying squirrels in two subtribes.

• Tribe Pteromyini - flying squirrels
  • Subtribe Glaucomyina
    • Eoglaucomys, one species, the Kashmir Flying Squirrel (Eoglaucomys fimbriatus).
    • Glaucomys (American flying squirrels), two species, the Northern flying squirrel and the Southern flying squirrel, North America
    • Hylopetes, ten species, southeast Asia
    • Iomys, one species, Horsfield's Flying Squirrel, Malaysia and Indonesia
    • Petaurillus (pygmy flying squirrels), three species, Borneo and Malaya
    • Petinomys, nine species, southeast Asia
  • Subtribe Pteromyina
    • Aeretes, one species, the Groove-toothed Flying Squirrel or North Chinese Flying Squirrel (A. melanopterus), northeast China
    • Aeromys, two species, Thailand to Borneo
    • Belomys, one species, the hairy-footed flying squirrel (B. pearsonii), southeast Asia.
    • Biswamoyopterus, one species, the Namdapha flying squirrel, India
    • Eupetaurus, one species, the woolly flying squirrel, Kashmir; rare
    • Petaurista (giant flying squirrels), five species, southeast Asia (including the Japanese giant flying squirrel, the Red giant flying squirrel, and the giant flying-squirrel)
    • Pteromys, two species, Finland to Japan (including the Japanese dwarf flying squirrel)
    • Pteromyscus, one species, the Smoky Flying Squirrel, southern Thailand to Borneo
    • Trogopterus, one species, the complex-toothed flying squirrel, China

Misidentification

A Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) in "flight"

The following are sometimes confused with flying squirrels:

• Colugos
• Petauridae - gliding possums
• Anomaluridae - scaly-tailed squirrels
• Sugar Glider - small gliding possums

Similarities between them result from convergent evolution.

Notes

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pteromyini

For a general overview of all flying and gliding mammals see:

• Flying and gliding animals

References

• Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Pp. 754-818 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

External links

• FlyingSquirrels.com
• Animal Diversity Web: Pteromyinae, classification
•  "Flying-squirrel". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.