Giant gray-headed squirrel
| Giant gray-headed squirrel | ||||||||||||
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| Petaurista caniceps | ||||||||||||
| ( Gray , 1842) |
The gray-headed giant sliding squirrel ( Petaurista caniceps ) is a sliding squirrel from the genus of the giant sliding squirrel ( Petaurista ). It is distributed over parts of the central to southern People's Republic of China to Nepal and Myanmar . The species status of the gray-headed giant gliding squirrel is controversial and in numerous representations it is assigned as a subspecies to the spotted giant gliding squirrel ( P. elegans ).
features
The gray-headed giant gliding squirrel reaches a head-trunk length of 30 to 37 centimeters and a tail length of 36 to 40 centimeters. The rear foot length is 61 to 67 millimeters, the ear length 45 to 50 millimeters. The species is therefore relatively small within the genus. The back color is gray to smoke gray, the head at the base of the ears pale brown. The belly is whitish-brown in color, the throat light white. In addition, the species has an orange color under the feet and a black tip of the tail. It differs from the closely related spotted giant gliding squirrel in the lack of spots on the back fur.
Like all giant flying squirrels, it has a large and hairy flight membrane that connects the wrists and ankles and is enlarged by a fold of skin between the hind legs and the base of the tail. The flight membrane is muscular and reinforced at the edge, it can be tensed and relaxed accordingly in order to control the direction of gliding.
The total length of the skull is 62 to 65 millimeters.
distribution
The gray-headed giant gliding squirrel occurs in parts of the central to southern People's Republic of China as far as Nepal , Bhutan , northern India and Myanmar . According to Smith & Yan Xie 2009, it is found in China in three subspecies: P. c. gorkhali lives in Yunnan , Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces , P. c. clarkei in the south of Xizang and P. c. sybilla also in Yunnan and southern Sichuan; in addition, two other, not yet described forms are said to be found in Guangxi and Hunan as well as in Hubei , Shaanxi and Gansu .
The distribution areas of P. c. clarkei and P. c. sybilla partially overlap with those of the spotted giant flying squirrel in Yunnan and Sichuan, which supports the hypothesis of separate species.
Way of life
The gray-headed giant gliding squirrel lives in rhododendron oak forests at altitudes of 2100 to 3600 meters and in coniferous forests at 3000 to 3600 meters. It is strictly arboreal and nocturnal and feeds on rhododendron leaves, buds and spruce cones. Like all other flying squirrels, this species is also able to glide over long distances by jumping off a tree.
The gray-headed giant gliding squirrel builds nests in hollow trees or in the branches of higher trees and usually lives solitary outside of the mating season. Communication takes place via high-pitched screams, which can be used to localize the animals. Little data is available on reproductive behavior; the females usually give birth to one or rarely two young and in October a lactating female was caught.
Systematics
The species status of the gray-headed giant gliding squirrel is controversial and in some classifications it is listed as a subspecies of the spotted giant gliding squirrel, this also applies to the assignment in Wilson & Reeder 2005. On the other hand, there are the more recent works by Smith & Yan Xie 2009 and Thorington et al. 2012. Following these works, the gray-headed giant flying squirrel is classified as an independent species within the genus of the giant flying squirrel ( Petaurista ), which contains a total of eight to nine species. The first scientific description comes from John Edward Gray from 1842, who described the species as Sciuropterus caniceps .
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Phylogenetic systematics of the genus Petaurista (based on Li et al. 2013), focused on the position of Petaurista caniceps
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By molecular biological studies of the genes for the cytochrome b in 2013, the species status for was Petaurista caniceps confirmed therefore it has as a separate species at the beginning of the Pliocene developed and is the sister species of Taguan ( Petaurista petaurista ) and the not yet treated as a separate species Petaurista grandis . Together with Petaurista lena , currently regarded as a subspecies of the red and white giant flying squirrel ( Petaurista alborufus ), they form a clade.
While Thorington et al. 2012 does not indicate any geographical variants, Smith & Yan Xie names 2009 for China with P. c. gorkhali , P. c. clarkei and P. c. sybilla three subspecies (without the nominate form ). P. c. According to alternative systematics, sybilla also represents its own subspecies of the spotted giant flying squirrel ( Petaurista elegans sybilla ) or its own species. The latter was confirmed by the molecular biological analyzes in 2013.
Existence, endangerment and protection
The gray-headed giant sliding squirrel is not listed as a separate species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and instead assigned to the spotted giant sliding squirrel as a subspecies.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g Gray-Headed Flying Squirrel. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2008; Pp. 177-178. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 .
- ^ A b c Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; P. 111. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- ↑ a b c Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Petaurista elegans caniceps in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
- ↑ a b c d e Song Li, Kai He, Fa-Hong Yu, Qi-Sen Yang: Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Petaurista Inferred from the Cytochrome b Gene, with Implications for the Taxonomic Status of P. caniceps, P. marica and P. sybilla. PLOS ONE , July 16, 2013 doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0070461
- ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Petaurista elegans sybilla in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
- ↑ Petaurista elegans in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: J. Walston, JW Duckworth, S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
literature
- Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; P. 111. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 .
- Gray-Headed Flying Squirrel. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2008; Pp. 177-178. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 .