Sliding planes
| Sliding planes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zenker's Gleitbilch ( Idiurus zenkeri ), drawing from the Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th edition 1911 |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Idiurus | ||||||||||||
| Matschie , 1894 |
The sliding bilies ( Idiurus ) are a genus of very small thorntail squirrels that live in the tropical rainforests of Africa . Despite their name, there is no relationship with the dormouse .
Like their larger relatives, the real thorn-tailed squirrels ( Anomalurus ), gliding bilices have a flight membrane that stretches from the ulna to the ankle and enables gliding in the manner of the (unrelated) gliding squirrels . Likewise, Gleitbilche have the thorny scales on the underside of the tail that gave the family its name. Their peculiarity is their small size: with a head body length of 7 to 9 cm and an 8 to 13 cm long tail, they are only a fifth to a third the size of their relatives in the genus Anomalurus .
Glide billets are nocturnal and spend the day in tree hollows. Little is known about their way of life. They appear to feed mainly on fruits and live in colonies of 12 to 100 animals. Admittedly, sliding bilges are rarely seen, but this is probably due to their hidden way of life in the treetops. They are not believed to be rare or threatened.
A distinction is made between two types:
- Zenker's Gleitbilch , Idiurus zenkeri , Central Africa
- Big-eared Gleitbilch , Idiurus macrotis , West and Central Africa
Two other species, which in the past were sometimes set up as Idiurus langi and Idiurus panga , are now considered to be identical to the large-eared glide bilge .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
