Abstract
Flying squirrels are poorly studied nocturnal mammals as their elusive and nocturnal behaviour makes it hard to observe them in the wild. Here, we describe sightings of Petaurista petaurista on a limestone hill and its foot at Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia. This is the first report as the species is usually known to inhabit forest habitat. We observed the first squirrel resting on a steep limestone wall at night. During subsequent nights, three individuals were observed feeding on Ficus hispida and Terminalia catappa fruits on the foot of the hill in nearby trees. These sightings suggest that P. petaurista may use limestone hill habitat.
Highlights
The Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista has a wide range from Afghanistan to Borneo (Thorington et al 2012)
This paper reports the first sighting of the little studied P. petaurista from limestone hills in Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia
The two individuals were feeding on a Ficus hispida, known as Hairy Fig at a height of ca. 20m, while one individual was feeding on Terminalia catappa, known as Tropical Almond
Summary
The Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista has a wide range from Afghanistan to Borneo (Thorington et al 2012). There are known subspecies within this geographical range, including those described in southeastern Asia (Corbet & Hill 1992; Silva & Downing 1995; Thorington & Hoffmann 2005; Sanamxay et al 2015). These squirrels usually stay in their nest in tree cavities (Muul & Lim 1978; Lee et al 1993) or in epiphytes such as the bird’s nest fern; Asplenium nidus
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