The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pteromyinae

a subfamily of rodents of the family Sciuridae, commonly called flying squirrels; they are frequently distinguished as a separate family.

In contrast to true squirrels, flying squirrels have loose membranes extending from the sides of the body to the limbs, which permit the animals to glide. Body length, up to 60 cm; tail, up to 40 cm. The fine thick fur is grayish or brownish. There are ten or 12 genera comprising about 30 species.

Flying squirrels live in forests of the temperate zone throughout the northern hemisphere and in the tropical zones of Asia. There is one species, Pteromys volans, in the USSR; it inhabits mixed forests and, beyond the Urals, forest steppes. The squirrels are active throughout the year, leaping easily from tree to tree and gliding over distances reaching 50 m. They feed on the buds, leaves, and roots of deciduous trees primarily, but also of pines and larches. They live in tree hollows and apparently bear a single litter annually of three or four young. The first fossil remains are from the Miocene period.

References in periodicals archive

After the survey, the researchers successfully obtained another specimen and, additionally, recorded observations of two other flying squirrels. As a result, they included a third member to the enigmatic genus: Biswamoyopterus gaoligongensis, also referred to as the Mount Gaoligong flying squirrel.

New species of flying squirrel found

There were regulars: the flying squirrels, palm and Malay civets and the gorgeously decorated banded civet and most nights we saw the small, exquisitely patterned leopard cat.

Borneo: Wildlife adventure in the land of sun bears and organutans

Later that evening, I join another tour organised by Picchio, this time watching flying squirrels, known as musasabi, make sunset glides from their nests.

Bear; Accompany SARAH MARSHALL as she gets in touch with nature on a relaxing trip to 'Japan's Alps'

Despite their name, flying squirrels don't really fly.

Is That a House in a Tree?

Two flying squirrels end their busy night as a snowy owl searches for prey.

The Flying Squirrel Stowaways: From Nova Scotia to Boston

The large red flying squirrel Petaurista albiventer (Gray, 1834), which was first recorded as Pteromys albiventer in its type locality Nepal, inhabits northern Pakistan eastward through India and Nepal into southwestern China, where it is located in the Himalayan temperate forests at elevations of 1350 m to the upper tree line limit at about 3000 m (Ellerman, 1940; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1950; Ellerman, 1961; Corbet and Hill, 1992; Roberts, 1977; Thorington et al., 2012; Wang, 2003).

Geographic Variation of the Large Red Flying Squirrel, Petaurista albiventer (Gray, 1834) (Rodentia: Sciuridae), with a Description of a New Subspecies in Southwestern China

* FOCAL WILDLIFE SPECIES: West Virginia northern flying squirrel and Cheat Mountain salamander

Wildlands for wildlife: working to protect and restore forest habitat for at-risk wildlife across the United States

The Indian giant flying squirrel (Petaurista philippensis Elliot, 1839) is a nocturnal arboreal rodent and has the widest distribution among all the flying squirrels in the tropical and sub-tropical zones of southeastern Asia (Wilson & Reeder 2005).

Seasonal variation in the activity budget of Indian giant flying squirrel (Petaurista philippensis) in tropical deciduous forest, Rajasthan, India

Genetic diversity and population differentiation in the endangered Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) in a fragmented landscape.--Eur.

Gliding performance of the red giant gliding squirrel Petaurista petaurista in the tropical rainforest of Indian eastern Himalaya

And "A Small Surfer" tells the extraordinary tale of precocious Quincy Symonds, otherwise known as the Flying Squirrel.

Film festival certain to make a splash

A Small Surfer tells the extraordinary tale of precocious Quincy Symonds, otherwise known as the Flying Squirrel.

Australia's stunning Ocean Film Festival to visit Whitley Bay on world tour; Festival films document the power and beauty of the oceans and celebrate divers, surfers, swimmers and oceanographers

Flying squirrel (tribe of pteromyini) and Petaurus breviceps are very similar to each other with their big eyes, the white bellies and the stiff integument segment that takes place between their arm and legs and provides soaring and keeping the balance; therefore, they have been regarded as close relatives.

A methodological criticism to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders