Petaurista petaurista
(Pallas, 1766)
Red Giant Flying Squirrel
Distribution :
E Afghanistan, Kashmir and Punjab east to Assam (India); Yunnan, Sichuan, Fukien (China); Burma; Thailand; Indochina; Malaysia; Sumatra, Java (Indonesia); Borneo.
Image courtesy of the ASM Mammal Images Library · MIL ID: 2535
Taxonomy
| Subclass | : Theria |
| Infraclass | : Placentalia |
| Magnorder | : Boreoeutheria |
| Superorder | : Euarchontoglires |
| Order | : Rodentia |
| Suborder | : Sciuromorpha |
| Family | : Sciuridae |
| Subfamily | : Sciurinae |
| Tribe | : Pteromyini |
| Genus | : Petaurista |
Species status
Authority citation
Pallas, P.S. 1766. Miscellanea Zoologica Quibus novæ imprimis atque obscuræ Animalium Species describuntur et observationibus iconibusque illustrantur. Petrus van Cleef, The Hague, 224 pp.
Authority publication link
Original name as described
Sciurus petaurista
Type locality
type locality not given. Restricted by H. C. Robinson and C. B. Kloss in 1918 to Preanger Regencies, Western Java, Indonesia.
Biogeographic realm
Indomalaya · Palearctic
Country distribution
Brunei · Indonesia · Malaysia · Thailand · Bangladesh? · India? · Myanmar?
Distribution notes
Recent revisions indicate that this species is distributed to the Sundaic region, but allocation of records in mainland South and Southeast Asia needs further study.
Distribution references
Li, Q., Jackson, S.M., Li, X.-y., Song, W.-y., Chen, Z.-z., Zhu, Z.-x., Hu, Z.-c., He, S.-w., Wang, H.-j., Luo, K., Luo, J., Pu, M.-j., Pu, C.-z., Xiong, Y., Li, S.-f., Liu, S.-y. and Jiang, X.-l. 2025. Discovery of a new species of giant flying squirrel (Petaurista) from northwest Yunnan, China, sheds light on the origin and diversification of the genus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 205(1):zlaf106. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf106 · Ray, P.C., Kumar, A., Biswas, J., Das, N., Sangma, A., Sarma, K. and Krishna, M. 2012. Red Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista petaurista) in Assam, India. Taprobanica 4(2):108-111. doi:10.47605/tapro.v4i2.79 · Kabir, M.T., Ahsan, M.F., Khatoon, A. and Rahman, M.M. 2018. Occurrence of the red giant flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista: Sciuridae) in Bangladesh. Nature Conservation Research 3(1):97-99. doi:10.24189/ncr.2018.011
Taxonomy notes
previously included P. albiventer
Taxonomy notes citation
Oshida, T., Shafique, C.M., Barkati, S., Fujita, Y., Lin, L.-K. and Masuda, R. 2004. A preliminary study on molecular phylogeny of giant flying squirrels, genus Petaurista (Rodentia, Sciuridae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences. Russian Journal of Theriology 3(1):15-24. doi:10.15298/rusjtheriol.03.1.04 · Yu, F.-r., Yu, F.-h., Pang, J.-f., Kilpatrick, C.W., McGuire, P.M., Wang, Y.-x., Lu, S.-q. and Woods, C.A. 2006. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Petaurista philippensis complex (Rodentia: Sciuridae), inter- and intraspecific relationships inferred from molecular and morphometric analysis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 38(3):755-766. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.002
IUCN Red List status
Least Concern
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Country distribution map
The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Known distribution is shown in green and predicted distribution is in yellow.Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.
Names and synonyms
Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details.
Total: 45 names and synonyms.
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