Squirrels of the World

110 Petaurillus kinlochii

Petaurista alborufus

(Milne-Edwards, 1870)

Red-and-White Giant Flying Squirrel

description: The largest species in the genus, it has a
white throat, a pinkish brown venter, and a speckled dor-
sum, with white or light maroon hairs. The tail has a whit-
ish or pinkish brown ring at the base.

size: Female—HB 383.5 mm; T 474.3 mm; Mass 1454.3 g.
Male—HB 421.2 mm; T 433.3 mm; Mass 1529.0 g.
Sex not stated—HB 496.0 mm; T 438.0 mm.

distribution: The red-and-white giant fl ying squirrel
ranges from a portion of Myanmar through southcentral
China. It also occurs in Taiwan.

geographic variation: Five subspecies are recognized.

P. a. alborufus—western Sichuan and Gansu (China). The

feet have reddish hairs.

P. a. castaneus—eastern Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and

Hubei (China). It has black hair on the feet, and there are

distinct rings at the base of the tail.

P. a. lena—island of Taiwan. It is the smallest subspecies.

P. a. leucocephalus—Tibet. The whole head, starting from the

posterior margin of the ear, is white. It has a white line

down the nape of the neck. The back, chin, throat, shoul-

ders, and the outer side of the upper arm to the wrist joint,

extending onto the patagium (“wing”), are also white.

P. a. ochraspis—Yunnan and Guangxi (China) into Myanmar.

This subspecies has reddish hair on the feet, white rings

at the base of the tail, and black on much of the rest of the

tail.

conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population

trend—no information.

habitat: This species is typically found in dense forests

of both hardwoods and conifers, generally at elevations of

2000–3000 m, but it has also been reported at lower eleva-

and its congeners exhibit mandible characteristics that are
highly evolved, and their eyes are set more anteriorly, which
probably aids stereoscopic vision and depth perception.

Petaurista Link, 1795

general references: Corbet and Hill 1992; Francis and

Duckworth 2008a; Hautier et al. 2009; Scheff er et al. 1948;

R. W. Thorington and Ferrell 2006.

This genus contains nine species of fl ying squirrel, many of
them quite large.

Petaurista alborufus. Photo courtesy Wu Chi Ying.

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