Petaurista

Petaurista
Bhutan giant flying squirrel (Petaurista nobilis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Tribe: Pteromyini
Genus: Petaurista
Link, 1795
Type species
Sciurus petaurista

Petaurista is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae.[1] They are large to very large flying squirrels found in forests and other wooded habitats in southern and eastern Asia.[2]

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.[2]

  1. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Jackson, S.M. (2012). Gliding Mammals of the World. CSIRO Publishing. pp. 112–135. ISBN 9780643092600.