NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Hodgson's Giant Flying Squirrel
Petaurista magnificus (Hodgson, 1836)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Hodgson's giant flying squirrel (Petaurista magnificus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. This large flying squirrel lives in Himalayan forests in Asia. Like other flying squirrels, it is nocturnal and able to glide (not actually fly like a bat) long distances between trees by spreading out its patagium, skin between its limbs.
Wikipedia contributors, Hodgson's giant flying squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:02:04.113425+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Petaurista magnificus (Hodgson, 1836)
- Name authority
- (Hodgson, 1836)
- Common name
- Hodgson's Giant 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
- familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
- subfamilySciurinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
- tribePteromyini Brandt, 1855
- genusPetaurista Link, 1795
- speciesPetaurista magnificus (Hodgson, 1836)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Petaurista. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Red and White Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista alborufus (Milne-Edwards, 1870) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spotted Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista elegans (Müller, 1840) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Japanese Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista leucogenys (Temminck, 1827) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chinese Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista xanthotis (Milne-Edwards, 1872) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray-headed Flying SquirrelPetaurista caniceps (Gray, 1842) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bhutan Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista nobilis (Gray, 1842) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indian Giant Flying SquirrelPetaurista philippensis (Elliot, 1839) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632511 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:4FD58. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.