Pteromys volans

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr, Russell A. Mittermeier
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2016
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Sciuridae; Pteromys; Pteromys volans; Norway; Chukotka; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6818896; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660FF89ED75FA15FCFDFDA2F34F

153. Siberian Flying Squirrel Pteromys volans French: Polatouche de Sibérie / German: Européisches Gleithérnchen / Spanish: Ardilla voladora de Siberia Other common names: Russian Flying Squirrel Taxonomy. Sciurus volans Linnaeus, 1758, “Boreal Europe, Asia, and America.” Restricted by O. Thomas in 1911 to Finland. Based mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene, Pteromys appears to be most closely related to Petaurista. Four subspecies recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. P.v.volansLinnaeus,1758—NEurope(SFinland,Estonia,Latvia,NBelarus,andWRussia)EtoRussianFarEast(Chukotka),NWChina(NXinjiang),andNMongolia. P.v.atheneThomas,1907—SakhalinI. P.v.buechner:Satunin,1903—NE&CChinaandtheKoreanPeninsula. P.v. ori Kuroda, 1921 — Hokkaido I, Japan. Descriptive notes. Head-body 120-228 mm, tail 90-149 mm; weight 95-200 g. The Siberian Flying Squirrel is somewhat smaller (10-20%) than its sister species, the Japanese Flying Squirrel (P. momonga). Dorsal pelage is gray or dark gray, and ventral pelage is white to yellowish white. Tail is more brownish and edged with dark-tipped hairs, and feet are pale below and dark above. Upper parts of nominate volans are uniform pale silvery gray. Eye ring is narrow black, and underparts are dull buffy white. Upper parts of athene are drab gray. Underparts are dull whitish. Sides are washed with reddish brown. Overall color of buechneri, especially on tail, is much darker than in the northern populations. Subspecies orii is similar to volans. Underparts are pure white. Cheeks are almost pure white. Tail is buffy on margin and blackish on median. Habitat. Mature boreal closed-canopy forests and particularly dependent on primary trees. The Siberian Flying Squirrel is sensitive to logging and severe forest fragmentation. Various studies suggest, however, that maintenance of well-connected habitat patches that meetits requirements allow it to persist in a landscape managed for timber harvests. The Siberian Flying Squirrel prefers mixed continuous forests, with old conifers (e.g. Norway spruce, ...