Dwarf gliding squirrel

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Dwarf gliding squirrel
Systematics
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Subordination : Squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha)
Family : Squirrel (Sciuridae)
Subfamily : Tree squirrel and flying squirrel (Sciurinae)
Tribe : Flying Squirrel (Pteromyini)
Genre : Dwarf gliding squirrel
Scientific name
Petinomys
Thomas , 1908

The dwarf gliding squirrel ( Petinomys, from Greek πετεινός peteinos 'capable of flying' and μῦς mys 'mouse') are a common species of gliding squirrel in South Asia . Despite the name, not all species are particularly small. On the contrary, some larger-than-average species also belong to the genus. Even the smallest petinomys be to tiny even by the Kleinstgleithörnchen exceeded.

features

The smallest species is the front-man gliding squirrel with a head body length of 10 cm and a tail about as long. The largest species, the mustache flying squirrel, is around 40 cm in total length (including tail) and around twice as long and therefore no longer very dwarfish. All dwarf gliding squirrels are inhabitants of tropical rainforests . In general, they are little researched, but their way of life is likely to correspond to other flying squirrels.

Systematics

The genus Petinomys was first scientifically described in 1908 by Oldfield Thomas as part of a division of the genus Sciuropterus as a subgenus of the same . The type species was the Siberut flying squirrel ( Petinomys lugens ) , which he also described in 1895

Eight to nine species are counted among the dwarf gliding squirrels:

On the basis of morphological comparisons in the structure of the inner ear and confirmed by molecular biological data of the cytochrome b sequences of the mitochondrial DNA , a very close relationship between the dwarf flying squirrel and the horseshoe flying squirrel ( Hylopetes ) is confirmed. Both genera overlap in their distribution area in South and Southeast Asia, a separation of the genera from each other is assumed during the Pleistocene about 2.2 million years ago.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b Oldfield Thomas : The genera and subgenera of the Sciuropterus Group, with descriptions of three new species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1, 1908; Pp. 1-8. ( Digitized version ).
  2. ^ A b Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Petinomys in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
  3. ^ Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 123 ff. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
  4. ^ JL Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Genus Petinomys. 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 , pp. 761-763.
  5. ↑ Tatsuo Oshida, Liang-Kong Lin, Hisashi Yanagawa, Hideki Endo, Ryuichi Masuda: Phylogenetic Relationships among Six Flying Squirrel Gener, a Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. Zoological Science 17 (4), 2000; Pp. 485-489. doi : 10.2108 / 0289-0003 (2000) 17 [485: PRASFS] 2.0.CO; 2

literature

  • Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 123 ff. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
  • JL Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Genus Petinomys. 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 , pp. 761-763.
  • 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 .