Images attached to GBIF records (field photographs), from . Open licences; click for the record.
Travancore Flying Squirrel
Petinomys fuscocapillus (Jerdon, 1847)
First described in: J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal vol.16 p.867
Travancore flying squirrel (Petinomys fuscocapillus) is a flying squirrel found in Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of South India. Travancore flying squirrels were thought to be extinct but were rediscovered in 1989 after a gap of 100 years in Kerala (Nanayakkara et al. 2013). It was subsequently confirmed to also be present in Sri Lanka after 78 years (Nanayakkara et al. 2013). The animals were reported only in wet and intermediate zones of the island, and had a few sightings in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
activity
Activity patterns. The Travancore Flying Squirrel is nocturnal. It nests in tree hollows and appears to spend most of its time in the canopy.
Sciuridae
biology_ecology
Habitat. Deciduous and evergreen forests, often in mountainous areas. The Travancore Flying Squirrel also feeds in plantations and is sometimes found near villages.
Sciuridae
biology_ecology
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Travancore Flying Squirrelis solitary. It exists seems to occur in low numbers. It is reasonably tolerant of disturbance, and in one study, it had higher densities in smaller forest fragments.
Sciuridae
breeding
Breeding. The Travancore Flying Squirrel is thought to produce two young per litter and breeding likely occurs in March.
Sciuridae
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The head and body length is 32 cm, and the tail is 25–29 cm. Dorsally, this species is reddish brown, with ruddy-tinged grayish underparts. The tail is feather-shaped and reddish brown with a blackish undersurface. Their vibrissae are black. Like other members of this genus, the fur is soft, long and sheen.
What it does
A rare, nocturnal mammal with a largely frugivorous diet, they are known to eat bark, shoots, and leaves, and sometimes insects.
Where it has been recorded
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Petinomys fuscocapillus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2437256.