Flying squirrel

About: Flying squirrel is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 360 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5689 citations. The topic is also known as: flying squirrel.

Preretinal absorbance in sciurid eyes.

Abstract: Spectrophotometric measurements of preretinal absorbance were made on eyes from prairie dogs, western gray squirrels, four species of ground squirrels, and a southern flying squirrel. Results indicate that lenses from all species except the flying squirrel absorb significantly in the spectral region from 520 to 440 nanometers. At 440 nanometers, relative preretinal absorbance was greatest for the prairie dogs (1.31) followed in order by the ground squirrels (1.12 to 1.04), the gray squirrels (0.54), and the flying squirrel, which had an essentially transparent lens and cornea (0.08).

Selection of nest trees by southern flying squirrels (Sciuridae: Glaucomys volans) in Arkansas

Abstract: Natural nest-site selection was investigated in 50 radiocollared southern flying squirrels Glaucomys volans during spring and summer, 1994–1996, in the Ouachita National Forest of Arkansas. Squirrels nested in 226 trees in a variety of habitats at five study areas. Contrary to previous reports describing southern flying squirrels as habitat generalists, in this study squirrels showed selection in both the habitat and tree type in which nests were placed. Where it was available, mature pine–hardwood forest was selected for nesting. Young (< 15 years old) and immature (15–40 years old) pine plantations and harvested areas were avoided as nesting habitats. At harvested study areas, squirrels nested in protected riparian mature forest strips (greenbelt) along, and 10–20 m either side of, intermittent creeks and in adjacent mature forests. Squirrels constructed only outside nests in pine trees. In mature pine–hardwood forest, pines were used for outside nests more frequently than hardwoods; in greenbelt habitat, pines and hardwoods were chosen equally for outside nests. Both outside and cavity nests were found in hardwoods; standing dead trees (snags) contained only cavity nests. Snags were selected over hardwoods for cavity nesting in both mature pine–hardwood forest and greenbelt habitat. All hardwood species and all decay classes of snags were used for diurnal nesting in greater frequency than expected. Considering both cavity and outside nest-site selection, pines were used less than expected. Results suggest that mature forests are optimal flying squirrel nesting habitats and should be retained adjacent to harvested areas to provide resources to squirrels abandoning stands after disturbance. Within harvested areas, nesting habitat can be substantially improved through the retention of overstory hardwoods and snags, as well as protection of mature forest strips along drainages.

Petauristidae and Sciuridae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from Tegelen, Zuurland, and the Maasvlakte (the Netherlands)

Abstract: The number of known sciurid and petauristid fossils from The Netherlands is nearly doubled with the description of material from the Zuurland boreholes, the Maasvlakte, and the Tegelen claypit. The material from Tegelen is assigned to a new species of flying squirrel, Hylopetes debruijni nov. sp. One molar from the late Early Pleistocene of the Zuurland borehole is assigned to Sciurus cf. S. vulgaris. The remaining finds from the Tiglian of the Zuurland boreholes, as well as the single molar from the Maasvlakte, are all assigned to Spermophilus primigenius; this name is preferred over the suggestive use of names of recent ground squirrels for fossil material. The presence, during roughly the same stratigraphic interval, of a flying squirrel in Tegelen and of ground squirrels in Zuurland confirms marked differences in the Late Tiglian environments between the east and the west of the Netherlands.

Phylogeography of the Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista leucogenys, Based on Mitochondrial DNA Control Region Sequences

Abstract: To investigate genetic diversity among populations of the Japanese giant flying squirrel Petaurista leucogenys, the mitochondrial DNA control region sequences (1,052–1,054 bases) were determined in 37 specimens from 17 localities on the Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu Islands of Japan. Of the 37 animals examined, 24 haplotypes were identified. All haplotypes from Kyushu consisted of 1,052 bases, whereas those from Honshu and Shikoku consisted of 1,054 bases including two insertions, except for three haplotypes (which had 1,052 or 1,053 bases). Phylogenetic relationships reconstructed using neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods indicated that P. leucogenys is essentially separated into three major lineages: Group A consisting of a single haplotype from Kyushu, Group B consisting of some haplotypes from Kyushu and one haplotype from Honshu, and Group C consisting mostly of haplotypes from Honshu and Shikoku. Animals with the Kyushu haplotypes were split into two lineages (Groups A and B), sugg...

Red-cockaded woodpecker nesting success, forest structure, and southern flying squirrels in texas

Abstract: For several decades general opinion has suggested that southern flying squir- rels (Glaucomys volans) have a negative effect on Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) through competition for cavities and egg/nestling predation. Complete removal of hardwood trees from Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity tree clusters has occurred on some forests because southern flying squirrel abundance was presumed to be associated with the presence and abundance of hardwood vegetation. In some locations, southern flying squirrels have been captured and either moved or killed in the name of Red-cockaded Woodpecker management. We determined southern flying squirrel occupancy of Red-cockaded Wood- pecker cavities in loblolly (Pinus taeda)-shortleaf (P. echinata) pine habitat (with and with- out hardwood midstory vegetation) and longleaf pine (P. palustris) habitat (nearly devoid of hardwood vegetation) during spring, late summer, and winter during 1990 and 1991. Flying squirrel use of Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities was variable and was not related to presence or abundance of hardwood vegetation. Woodpecker nest productivity was not correlated with flying squirrel use of woodpecker cavities within clusters. In addition, we observed six instances where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers successfully nested while flying squirrels occupied other cavities in the same tree. Our results suggest that complete removal of hardwoods from woodpecker cluster areas in loblolly and shortleaf pine habitat may not provide benefits to the woodpeckers through reduction of flying squirrel numbers. Reduction of hardwood midstory around cavity trees, however, is still essential because of the wood- pecker's apparent innate intolerance of hardwood midstory foliage. Received 3 Nov. 1995, accepted 21 Mar. 1996.