Laos flying squirrel

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Laos flying squirrel
Skins of the three known Biswamoyopterus species, at the bottom the Laos flying squirrel

Skins of the three known Biswamoyopterus species, at the bottom the Laos flying squirrel

Systematics
Subordination : Squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha)
Family : Squirrel (Sciuridae)
Subfamily : Tree squirrel and flying squirrel (Sciurinae)
Tribe : Flying Squirrel (Pteromyini)
Genre : Biswamoyopterus
Type : Laos flying squirrel
Scientific name
Biswamoyopterus laoensis
Sanamxay , Douangboubpha , Bumrungsri , Xayavong , Xayaphet , Satasook & Bates , 2013

The Laos flying squirrel ( Biswamoyopterus laoensis ) is a Southeast Asian flying squirrel . It is only known from a single specimen, which in September 2012 as bush meat at a market in the zentrallaotischen bolikhamsai province found and Lao by a team and a British biologist in 2013 described was.

features

The Laos flying squirrel is a relatively large flying squirrel and reaches a head-trunk length of 45.5 cm, a tail length of 62 cm and a weight of 1.8 kg. The back fur consists of a mixture of red-brown and black hair with an admixture of gray to whitish-gray hair; the belly is covered with orange hair mixed with gray hair. The flight membrane is densely hairy; the fur there is of the same color as the fur on the back, but less gray. The underside of the flight membrane is only thinly covered with orange hair and shows numerous broken black lines. The tail is cylindrical and completely black. Only on the underside of the tail base you can see a small gray spot. The skull of the holotype is 7.44 cm long. The ears are dark gray to black and largely hairless, but have tufts of long black hair at the base of the ear. Another small tuft of hair is below the middle of the ear. The tip of the nasal bone is straight and not rounded. The upper and lower incisors are yellow on their front side. The third premolar is well developed, the fourth slightly larger than the first molar . The first and second molars have two well-developed cusps on the lip side and one large and one small cusp on the tongue side. An additional small hump is at the back of a cross riser.

habitat

Locations of the three known Biswamoyopterus species; the location of the Laos flying squirrel is marked with a red triangle.

Since the holotype was found in a market, the habitat of the Laos flying squirrel is not yet known. The market is located in the village of Thongnami between two karst areas , which are covered by mostly untouched, evergreen forest or flora adapted to extreme drought. The rare rodent species Laonastes aenigmamus and Saxatilomys paulinae can also be found in these areas, which may be the habitat of the Laos flying squirrel .

Systematics

The Laos flying squirrel belongs to the tribe of flying squirrels (Pteromyini) in the family of squirrels (Sciuridae). It was in 2013 by a working group led by the Lao zoologists Daosavanh Sanamxay from Ban Thongmai in bolikhamsai province , Laos, described . Up to that point in time, the Namdapha flying squirrel ( Biswamoyopterus biswasi ) found in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh was only known to be another species of the genus Biswamoyopterus , which is only documented by a single specimen. In 2019, Biswamoyopterus gaoligongensis was described as a third species from the Gaoligong Shan in China .

No subspecies are distinguished within the species.

Existence, endangerment and protection

The IUCN has listed not in a hazard category, but as "data deficient" this squirrel because of missing data. So far no data are available on the way of life and apart from the type, no other animals have been sighted or found. Above all, illegal hunting as a meat supplier is assumed to be a potential source of danger.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d Daosavanh Sanamxay, Douangboubpha, Bumrungsri, Xayavong, Xayaphet, Satasook & Bates: Rediscovery of Biswamoyopterus (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae: Pteromyini) in Asia, with the description of a new species from Lao PDR. Zootaxa (Magnolia Press) 3686 (4): 471-481. ISSN  1175-5334 .
  2. ↑ a b J.L. Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Laotian Giant Flying Squirrel Biswamoyopterus laoensis. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, ISBN 978- 84-941892-3-4 , p. 769.
  3. ↑ Quan Li, Xue-You Li, Stephen M. Jackson, Fei Li, Ming Jiang, Wei Zhao, Wen-Yu Song, Xue-Long Jiang: Discovery and description of a mysterious Asian flying squirrel (Rodentia, Sciuridae, Biswamoyopterus) from Mount Gaoligong, southwest China. ZooKeys 864, 2019; Pp. 147-160. doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.864.33678 .
  4. ↑ a b Biswamoyopterus laoensis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2017. Posted by: R. Kennerley, 2017. Accessed July 24 of 2019.

literature

  • Daosavanh Sanamxay, Douangboubpha, Bumrungsri, Xayavong, Xayaphet, Satasook & Bates: Rediscovery of Biswamoyopterus (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae: Pteromyini) in Asia, with the description of a new species from Lao PDR. Zootaxa (Magnolia Press) 3686 (4): 471-481. ISSN  1175-5334 .
  • JL Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Laotian Giant Flying Squirrel Biswamoyopterus laoensis. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, ISBN 978- 84-941892-3-4 , p. 769.