Particolored flying squirrel

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Particolored flying squirrel

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Hylopetes
Species:
H. alboniger
Binomial name
Hylopetes alboniger
(Hodgson, 1836)

The particolored flying squirrel (Hylopetes alboniger) is a species of

habitat loss
.

The Himalayan large-eared flying squirrel (Priapomys leonardi) was formerly considered a subspecies of H. alboniger, but phylogenetic analysis revealed that it occupies a completely different place in the taxonomy of flying squirrels, and it as thus classified as a distinct species in its own genus.[2]

Nut Caching

Hylopetes alboniger is one of two squirrels (the other is

Hylopetes phayrei electilis) that hang elliptical or oblate nuts securely in vegetation. They carve grooves into the nuts, using them to fix the nuts tightly between small intersecting twigs, reminiscent of the mortise-tenon joint in carpentry. Strategically, these cache sites are 10–25 m away from the nearest nut-producing tree, reducing potential theft. This behavior not only ensures secure storage but may also influence the forest's tree distribution.[3]

This storing of nuts contrasts with squirrels in temperate zones that typically do this in ground holes or under leaf litter.

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T10600A22244563.en
    . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. PMID 34047079
    .
  3. PMID 37309191
    .
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