L AOTIAN GIANT FLYING SQUIRREL

MORE INFO (Biswamoyopterus laoensis)

https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.864.33678 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.864.33678

This flying squirrel was first described from a specimen collected in 2012 in a fresh market in Ban Thongnami, Pak Kading district, Bolikhamxay province, Laos, where it was being sold for meat. It was categorized as belonging to the same genus as another species of flying squirrel found in Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India in 1981. In 2017 and 2018, two specimens of giant flying squirrels were collected in Mount Gaoligong in Yunnan province, China. Based on comparative morphology with the Laotian and Namdapha specimens, the Gaoligong squirrel was described as another new species in the same genus.

Given that only one individual of the Laotian giant flying squirrel was found, and that it was already dead, it is difficult to know much about its habitat, population or distribution. However, many wild animals sold in the Ban Thongnami fresh market are sourced from either the Nam Kading National Protected Area or the Phou

Hin Poun National Protected Area. It is likely that this specimen was sourced from dry evergreen or semi-evergreen karst forests of Nam Kading. Since it was found in a market in an area where flying squirrels are commonly found in markets, this species is thought to be threatened by hunting for meat.

Kennerley, R. 2017. Biswamoyopterus laoensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T88700294A88700297. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T88700294A88700297.en

Accessed 9 May 2023.