120 Petaurista philippensisdistribution: This species is found in India (from Mumbai
and Rajastan in western India east to southern Bihar, and in
the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu);
Sri Lanka; several provinces in southern China (including
Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan); Taiwan;
and through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Viet-
nam. This species’ distribution is extremely patchy in India.
geographic variation: Subspecies distinctions are quite
variable, and they are poorly understood.
P. p. philippensis—India and Sri Lanka. The general color
is brownish grizzled white, with the white being very
conspicuous. The underparts are white. The patagium
(“wing”) may be tinged with rufous.
P. p. annamensis—southern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
This form is chestnut rufous to rufous, with a white
muzzle, white speckles, and a blackish tail.
P. p. cineraceus—Arakan (= Rakhine, Myanmar). The backs
of the forearms and the ears are bay colored. The tail is
drab gray. The general color is blackish to grayish.
P. p. grandis—Taiwan. This may instead be a subspecies of
Petaurista petaurista, as is suggested by molecular data. It
has bright red chestnut upperparts, and its underparts
are rufescent. The dorsal hairs may be tipped in black.
P. p. hainana—Hainan Island (China). This may be a distinct
species. The dorsal surface is grizzled rusty and black.
The head is shining black, and the borders of the ears
and lips are white. The patagium is blackish brown with
a ferruginous border. The tail is all black except for the
ventral surface of the tail base, which is grizzled rusty
and black.
P. p. lylei—northwestern Thailand. This form is similar to P.
p. cineraceus, but P. p. lylei is darker and more richly col-
ored. The lower back is gray. The distal 7.5 cm of the tail
are black. The eye ring, nose, and chin are dark brown.
The gray on the lower cheeks fades to white as it ap-
proaches the throat. The underparts are white (with a
buff y wash) to red. The forearms are dark brown, turn-
ing darker toward the phalanges. The phalanges are
black, and the black color extends under the arm and
along the edges of the patagium.
P. p. mergulus—Mergui Archipelago (Myanmar). The dorsal
surface is grizzled grayish brown with a light olivaceus
to chestnut rufous suff usion. The ventral surface is gray-
ish white. The chin and throat are browner. The hands
and feet are black, and the tail is grizzled hoary gray with
a black tip.
P. p. nigra—northwestern Yunnan (China). No description is
available.
P. p. rubicundus—Shaanxi and Sichuan (China). The ventral
surface is a light bright rufous. The face, chin, neck, and
feet are darker rufous. The tail tip is black. The throat
and edges of the patagium are an intense rufous. The ears
are almost hairless.
P. p. yunanensis—Yunnan (China). This may be a distinctPetaurista philippensis grandis. Photo courtesy Shih-Wei Chang.