Long-eared Flying Squirrel

Open encyclopedia reference

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. It is not actually a squirrel, nor a mouse, though it is a rodent. Not much is known about them because they are very hard to keep alive in captivity. 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. Limited information suggests that it is mainly frugivorous. 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.

Wikipedia contributors, Long-eared flying mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:27:23.218869+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Idiurus macrotis Miller, 1898

Name authority

Miller, 1898

Common name

Long-eared Flying Squirrel

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Anomaluridae

Genus

Idiurus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderAnomaluromorpha Bugge, 1974
13. familyAnomaluridae Gervais, 1849
14. subfamilyIdiurinae Miller & Gidley, 1918
15. genusIdiurus Matschie, 1894
16. speciesIdiurus macrotis Miller, 1898

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Idiurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 6 records assigned to Anomaluridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=573196 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3PDQR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.