Long-eared flying mouse | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Anomaluridae |
Genus: | Idiurus |
Species: | I. macrotis |
Binomial name | |
Idiurus macrotis Miller, 1898 | |
The long-eared flying mouse (Idiurus macrotis) or long-eared scaly-tailed flying squirrel, is a species of flying mouse from western and central Africa. [1] [2] [3] It is not actually a squirrel, nor a mouse, though it is a rodent. [4] Not much is known about them because they are very hard to keep alive in captivity. [4]
To achieve gliding flight, it uses two membranes (patagia) which fold up when not in use. When the limbs are stretched wide in a star-shape, the membranes become taut and allow the rodent to glide from tree to tree. Being arboreal, Idiurus spends all of its time in the trees, living in hollow trunks in groups of 2 to 40. [4] Limit information suggests that it is mainly frugivorous. [4] It has a long tail in proportion to its body, sporting two lines of raised scales, and patches of scaly skin to help it grip trees, but the rest of its body is furry. The tail is longer than the body and is also used to balance, like a primate's tail. Long-eared scaly-tailed flying squirrels are about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long and weigh 30g. In comparison, the body of a common household mouse is approximately 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long and its tail is approximately 5 centimetres (2.0 in).
The Anomaluridae are a family of rodents found in central Africa. They are known as anomalures or scaly-tailed squirrels. The six extant species are classified into two genera.
The flying mice, also known as the pygmy scaly-tails, pygmy scaly-tailed flying squirrels, or pygmy anomalures are not true mice, not true squirrels, and are not capable of true flight. These unusual rodents are essentially miniaturized versions of anomalures and are part of the same sub-Saharan African radiation of gliding mammal.
Pel's flying squirrel or Pel's scaly-tailed squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Anomaluridae. It is found in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana, where it lives in lowland tropical rainforests. It is named after Hendrik Pel.
The dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Anomaluridae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Uganda. The species is nocturnal and arboreal and lives in subtropical or tropical lowland rainforest. Membranes attached to its limbs and tail enable it to glide between trees. This squirrel is currently not considered to be threatened by habitat destruction; "much of the habitat within parts of the known range of this species is relatively intact, and the species is unlikely to be experiencing any significant declines."
The Cameroon scaly-tail, also referred to as the Cameroon anomalure, flightless anomalure or flightless scaly-tail, is a rodent species endemic to West Central Africa. The scientific literature has never reported observations of live individuals. The taxonomic classification of the species has been subject to recent revision.
Lord Derby's scaly-tailed squirrel is an anomalurid rodent native to Africa. It was named after Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.