Sighting of Petaurista petaurista (Pallas, 1766) (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) on limestone hills in Merapoh, Malaysia
Main Article Content
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.
Article Details
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Asrulsani, J., K.A. Mohamed, I.S. Azmi, H.R. Halim, M.H. Saharudin, M.F. Semanand & S. Samsuddin (2017). Temporal activity pattern of Leopards (Panthera pardus) in Taman Negara National Park, Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Wildlife and Parks 32: 23–29.
Aziz, S.H.A., Z. Zakaria & Z.R. Mohammad (2014). Authenticity of Ficus hispida as a local traditional product in the Lembah Lenggong World Heritage Site. In: 4th International Conference on Tourism Research (4ICTR), 12, p.1098. EDP Sciences.
Baad (2017). ‘These prehistoric caves in Pahang almost got destroyed to make cement, but they’re not safe yet.’ https://cilisos.my/these-prehistoric-caves-in-pahang-were-almost-blown-up-to-make-way-for-a-cement-factory/ accessed 27 January 2019.
BirdLife International (2019). Important Bird Areas Factsheet: Taman Negara National Park, http://www.birdlife.org accessed 10 March 2019.
Clements, R., N.S. Sodhi, M. Schilthuizen & P.K.L. Ng (2006). Limestone karsts of Southeast Asia: Imperiled arks of biodiversity. BioScience 56(9): 733–742. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[733:lkosai]2.0.co;2
Corbet, G.B. & J.E. Hill (1992). The Mammals of the Indo-Malayan Region: A Systematic Review. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 448pp.
Diggins, C.A., C.A. Kelly & W.M. Ford (2015). Atypical den use of Carolina northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus) in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Southeastern Naturalist . 24(3): 44–49. https://doi.org/10.1656/058.014.0303 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1656/058.014.0303
Duckworth, J.W. (2016). Petaurista petaurista. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T16723A115138344. Downloaded on 14 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T16723A22272173.en DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T16723A22272173.en
Francis, C.M. (2008). A Guide to the Mammals of Southeast Asia. Princeton University Press, New York, 392pp.
Holloway, G.L. & J.R. Malcolm (2007). Nest-tree use by Northern and Southern flying squirrels in Central Ontario. Journal of Mammalogy 88(1): 226–233. https://doi.org/10.1644/05-mamm-a-368r2.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1644/05-MAMM-A-368R2.1
Joeharry, N.A.M., M.S. Leman, C.A. Ali & K.R. Mohamed (2018). Constraining the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Gua Panjang Hill, Merapoh, Pahang State, Malaysia. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia 66: 75–80. https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm66201810 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm66201810
Kawanishi, K., M.E. Sunquist & A. Sahak (2003). Rarity and possible new records of Sumatran rhinoceros in Taman Negara. Journal of Wildlife and Parks 20: 125–128.
Kawanishi, K. & M.E. Sunquist (2004). Conservation status of tigers in a primary rainforest of Peninsular Malaysia. Biological Conservation 120(3): 329–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.03.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.03.005
Kawanishi, K. & M.E. Sunquist (2008). Food habits and activity patterns of the Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii) and Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in a primary rainforest of Peninsular Malaysia. Mammal Study 33(4): 173–177. https://doi.org/10.3106/1348-6160-33.4.173 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3106/1348-6160-33.4.173
Krishna, M.C., A. Kumar & O.P. Tripathi (2016). Gliding performance of the red giant gliding squirrel Petaurista petaurista in the tropical rainforest of Indian Eastern Himalaya. Wildlife Biology 22(1): 7–12. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00120 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00120
Krishna, M.C., A. Kumar & O.P. Tripathi (2019). Nesting trees of the Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in a tropical forest of Namdapha National Park, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(6): 13720–13726. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4384.11.6.13720-13726 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4384.11.6.13720-13726
Kuo, C.C. & L.L. Lee (2003). Food availability and food habits of Indian giant flying squirrels (Petaurista philippensis) in Taiwan. Journal of Mammalogy 84(4): 1330–1340. https://doi.org/10.1644/bos-039 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1644/BOS-039
Lee, P.F., D.R. Progulske & Y. Lin (1993). Spotlight counts of giant flying squirrels (Petaurista petaurista and Petaurista alborufus) in Taiwan. Bulletin of the Institute of Zoology Academia Sinica 32(1): 54–61.
Milow, P., M.R. Ramli & C. Hean (2010). Preliminary survey on plants in home gardens in Pahang, Malaysia. Journal of Biodiversity 1(1): 19–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09766901.2010.11884715 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09766901.2010.11884715
Molur, S., C. Srinivasulu, B. Srinivasulu, S. Walker, P.O. Nameer & L. Ravikumar (2005). Status of South Asian Non-volant Small Mammals: Conservation Assessment & Management Plan (CAMP) Workshop Report. Conservation Breeding Specialist Group-South Asia & Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore, 612pp.
Muul, I. & B.L. Lim (1978). Comparative morphology, food habits and ecology of some Malaysian arboreal rodents, pp. 361–368. In: Montgomery, G.G. (ed.). The Ecology of Arboreal Folivores. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 574pp.
Nwosu, F.O., O.O. Dosumu & J.O.C. Okocha (2008). The potential of Terminalia catappa (Almond) and Hyphaene thebaica (Dum palm) fruits as raw materials for livestock feed. African Journal of Biotechnology 7(24): 4576–4580.
Prater, S. (2005). The Book of Indian Animals, 3rd Edition. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, 348pp.
Sanamxay, D., B. Douangboubpha, S. Bumrungsri, C. Satasook & P.J.J. Bates (2015). A summary of the taxonomy and distribution of the Red Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista petaurista (Sciuridae, Sciurinae, Pteromyini), in mainland Southeast Asia with the first record from Lao PDR. Mammalia 79(3): 305–314. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2014-0005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2014-0005
Scholey, K. (1986). The climbing and gliding locomotion of the Giant Red Flying Squirrel Petaurista petaurista (Sciuridae). Biona Report 5: 187–204.
Silva, M. & J.A. Downing (1995). Handbook of Mammalian Body Masses. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 359pp.
Smith, A.T. & Y. Xie (Eds.) (2013). Mammals of China, Volume 9. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 400pp.
Thorington, R.W. & L.R. Heaney (1981). Body proportions and gliding adaptations of flying squirrels (Petauristinae). Journal of Mammalogy 62(1): 101–114. https://doi.org/10.2307/1380481 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1380481
Thorington, R.W.J. & R.S. Hoffmann (2005). Family Sciuridae pp. 754–818. In: Wilson, D. & D. Reeder (Eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 2,142pp.
Thorington, R.W.J., J.L. Koprowski, M.A. Steele & J.F. Whatton (2012). Squirrels of the World. JHU Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 472pp.
UNESCO (2007). The Taman Negara National Park of Peninsular Malaysia: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List Database. www. unesco.org/tentativelists/1921. accessed 20 January 2019.
UNESCO (2014). National Park (Taman Negara) of Peninsular Malaysia: UNESCO World Heritage. https://www.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5927/ accessed 30 January 2019.
Xian, H.L. & L. Harding (2013). Behaviour of Yunnan giant flying squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) at a mineral lick in Yunnan, China. TAPROBANICA: The Journal of Asian Biodiversity 5(1): 87–88. https://doi.org/10.4038/tapro.v5i1.5691 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4038/tapro.v5i1.5691
Zahler, P. (2010). Eupetaurus cinereus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T8269A12904144. Downloaded on 12 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-2.RLTS.T8269A12904144.en DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-2.RLTS.T8269A12904144.en