Mammals of the WorldParticolored Flying Squirrel
Hylopetes alboniger
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Hylopetes
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- India|Nepal|Bhutan|Bangladesh|China|Myanmar|Thailand|Laos|Vietnam|Cambodia
- Realm
- Palearctic|Indomalaya
About this species
- Habitat
- Subtropical and tropical forest
- Range
- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam
The particolored flying squirrel is a small flying squirrel whose natural habitat is subtropical or tropical forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Himalayan large-eared flying squirrel was formerly considered a subspecies of it, but phylogenetic analysis showed that it sits in a different part of the flying-squirrel family tree and it is now a distinct species in its own genus (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. Individuals store nuts at cache sites 10 to 25m from the nearest nut-producing tree, which probably reduces the chance of theft. This contrasts with squirrels in temperate zones, which usually store nuts in ground holes or under leaf litter. Nationally Least Concern (Nepal National Red List 2011).
Description: Wildlife of Nepal guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)