Spotted giant flying squirrel

Petaurista elegans (Illustration from The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Samarang, under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, 1850)

The Spotted Riesengleithörnchen ( Petaurista elegans ) is a flying squirrel from the subfamily of the tree and flying squirrels ( Sciurinae ). It belongs to the genus of Riesengleithörnchen ( Petaurista ) and lives in Southeast Asia.

Features

The Spotted Riesengleithörnchen is about cats big and has a head-body length of 30 to 58 cm and a total length of 35-63 cm. Adult animals are on average from 1138 to 1362 grams. The basic color of the animals is highly variable, ranging from reddish brown to black. Here, the back can be provided without markings or bright spots that may have a different size and density. In some forms, the animals have a reddish stain on the hull, others have a black line that runs across the back. The belly is usually lighter than the back side. Also the color of the legs can vary from orange - brown to brown to black.

Like all other types of flying squirrel has the spotted Riesengleithörnchen a sliding skin between the front and rear legs, which is covered with fur.

Distribution and habitat

The Spotted Riesengleithörnchen is over a large area of South and disseminated. It ranges from eastern and south-eastern Nepal and Bhutan over South and Central China, India, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to the Malay Peninsula. The Malaysian and Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and a few smaller surrounding islands are inhabited by the species. In China, the distribution area includes parts of the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Xizang, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu.

It lives in the area of the Himalayas at altitudes of 3000 to 4000 m, in Southeast Asia between 1000 and 4000 m ( Malaysia). It usually lives in the highlands, is observed in spring at lower elevations, possibly in search of food, which are not found at higher elevations during this time of year. The habitat consists of pine forests of the temperate climates to tropical rain forests.

Way of life

The Riesengleithörnchen are nocturnal and spend the day in tree hollows. They feed like other squirrels conifer seeds, nuts, fruits, leaves, shoots and buds. The movement is done by climbing on the trees, where they are, however, hampered by the flight skin compared to other squirrels. Sliding it can cover long distances. The glide angle is changed with the front legs, the control is done with the legs and the tail. The glide is generally from a high point in a tree to another tree at a lower place on the ground, and is often used in flight.

About the propagation of this kind, there are few data. It is believed that they live the whole year like the Taguan ( Petaurista petaurista ) in pairs and are observed together in the rule. You only get once a year young and have invested up to two pups, lactating females were captured in October.

System

The Spotted Riesengleithörnchen is currently classified as a safe way within the Riesengleithörnchen ( Petaurista ). It contains this date with the nominate P. elegans and P. e e banksi, P. e caniceps, P. e marica, P. e punctatus, P. and P. sumatrana e e sybilla seven subspecies. It is assumed by some scholars that represent e caniceps P. and P. e sybilla own species.

Threats and conservation

The species is " not endangered " by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) due to the population size and the large distribution area than estimated ( Least concern ). A decline in inventories and a greater threat are not known, although there are only a few research reports on the Art