Spotted Giant Flying Squirrel

About this species

Size

Head and body 29.5–40cm; tail 34–40.5cm

Weight

760–1,560g

Diet

Fruit, seeds, leaves, buds and flowers

Habitat

Hill and mountain forest at 200–4,000m

Range

Southeast Asia north to central China and the eastern Himalaya, including Nepal

Litter size

One, occasionally two

The spotted giant flying squirrel, also called the lesser giant flying squirrel, has a head and body of about 29.5 to 40cm and a tail of 34 to 40.5cm, and weighs 760 to 1,560g. The underparts are light orange-brown to pale rufous, while the head, upperparts and tail vary a lot by subspecies. Some populations lack the white spots on the upperparts that give it its name (Wikipedia, general species account).

The subspecies from Uttarakhand and Nepal to Arunachal Pradesh has a black tail tip and a grey head with a white throat. It lives in hill and mountain forest from 200 to 4,000m. A rather noisy species with a drawn-out night cry, it spends the day in a tree hollow and feeds on fruit, seeds, leaves, buds and flowers. Nationally Data Deficient (Nepal National Red List 2011).

Description: Wildlife of Nepal guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)