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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Gray-headed Flying Squirrel

Petaurista caniceps (Gray, 1842)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Petaurista caniceps (Gray, 1842)
Name authority
(Gray, 1842)
Common name
Gray-headed Flying Squirrel
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Petaurista
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. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  14. subfamilySciurinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  15. tribePteromyini Brandt, 1855
  16. genusPetaurista Link, 1795
  17. speciesPetaurista caniceps (Gray, 1842)

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Red and White Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista alborufus (Milne-Edwards, 1870)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Spotted Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista elegans (Müller, 1840)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Japanese Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista leucogenys (Temminck, 1827)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Hodgson's Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista magnificus (Hodgson, 1836)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Chinese Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista xanthotis (Milne-Edwards, 1872)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Bhutan Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista nobilis (Gray, 1842)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Indian Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista philippensis (Elliot, 1839)SciuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 219 records assigned to Sciuridae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded nameSource status
Petaurista elegans caniceps (Gray, 1842) (Gray, 1842)synonym

Documented distribution

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

Southern Asia

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=930328 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:4FD55. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.