Northern flying squirrel

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Northern flying squirrel
Northern flying squirrel

Northern flying squirrel

Systematics
Subordination : Squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha)
Family : Squirrel (Sciuridae)
Subfamily : Tree squirrel and flying squirrel (Sciurinae)
Tribe : Flying Squirrel (Pteromyini)
Genre : Newworldly flying squirrels ( Glaucomys )
Type : Northern flying squirrel
Scientific name
Glaucomys sabrinus
( Shaw , 1801)

The northern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys sabrinus ) is a larger member of the squirrel family with a body length of 23 to 27 centimeters . In 2017, the Humboldt flying squirrel ( Glaucomys oregonensis ) was distinguished from the northern flying squirrel as an independent species.

Appearance

It is colored gray on the back, head and top of the bushy tail. The underside of the croissant is white. The auricles do not stick out. The hands and feet are elongated.

Occurrence

The species is found in southern Canada and the western United States. There it lives in dense deciduous and coniferous forests.

Distribution area (brown) of the northern flying squirrel

Way of life

The northern flying squirrel lives in the treetops and upper levels of the trees. There it collects nuts, lichens, berries and mushrooms in the warmer seasons, but does not disdain the bark of the trees either. In winter it feeds on lichen, mushrooms and the supplies it hides in hollow, old trees in autumn. In order to reduce its daily energy requirement (400 to 700 kJ, corresponding to a feed amount of 300 to 350 grams) during the cold season, the squirrel reduces its outdoor activity to three to four hours and sleeps the rest of the day in its well-insulated tree hollow. In contrast to real winter sleepers, it can only lower its body temperature from 41 ° C to 39 ° C.

Reproduction

The young, which are born in April or later, are hidden by the female in a tree hole that has previously been lined with moss or the like. On average, the female gives birth to two to six young, which are then suckled for up to ten weeks.

Systematics

The northern flying squirrel is classified in the genus of the New World flying squirrel ( Glaucomys ), which consists of three species. It was first described as an independent species in 1801 by the natural scientist George Shaw . At the beginning of 2017, the Humboldt flying squirrel ( Glaucomys oregonensis ) was differentiated from the northern flying squirrel as a separate species by Brian Arbogast and colleagues from Bowling Green State University due to genetic characteristics, and together with the animals of the former subspecies G. sabrinus oregonensis , the subspecies G . s. californicus , G. s. lascivus , G. s. stephensi , G. s. flaviventris and G. s. klamathensis assigned to the new species.

Based on the genetic data, the Humboldt flying squirrel is considered to be a sister species of a common taxon from the southern and northern flying squirrel, whose species separation is more recent than that of the Humboldt flying squirrel. In contrast to the Humboldt flying squirrel and the northern flying squirrel, there are also hybrids in geographically overlapping populations of the southern and northern flying squirrels.

Hazards and protective measures

In addition to the nominate form , the two subspecies ( Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus and Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus ) are known, which occur only in very limited areas of the Appalachian Mountains and are threatened in their population due to the displacement by the Assapan and the strong infestation by the parasite Strongyloides robustus . To protect the species, several protected areas have been designated in their range.

supporting documents

  1. ^ IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) 2008. Glaucomys sabrinus . In: IUCN 2014. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3
    http://www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on January 12, 2015; Map showing the range of the Humboldt's flying squirrel ( Glaucomys oregonensis )
  2. ^ Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 94 .
  3. ↑ Northern Flying Squirrel - Glaucomys sabrinus. 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; 759. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  4. ↑ a b Brian Arbogast, Katelyn Schumacher, Nicholas Kerhoulas, Allison Bidlack, Joseph Cook, GJ Kenagy: Genetic data reveal a cryptic species of New World flying squirrel: Glaucomys oregonensis . Journal of Mammalogy , May 30, 2017. doi : 10.1093 / jmammal / gyx055

literature

  • Nancy Wells-Gosling, Lawrence R. Heaney: Glaucomys sabrinus . In: Mammalian Species . tape 229 , 1984, pp. 1–8 ( full text (PDF)).

Web links

Commons : Northern Flying Squirrel  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files