NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Travancore Flying Squirrel
Petinomys fuscocapillus (Jerdon, 1847)
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
Travancore flying squirrel (Petinomys fuscocapillus) is a flying squirrel found in Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of South India. Travancore flying squirrels were thought to be extinct but were rediscovered in 1989 after a gap of 100 years in Kerala (Nanayakkara et al. 2013). It was subsequently confirmed to also be present in Sri Lanka after 78 years (Nanayakkara et al. 2013). The animals were reported only in wet and intermediate zones of the island, and had a few sightings in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.
Wikipedia contributors, Travancore flying squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:27:54.751628+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Petinomys fuscocapillus (Jerdon, 1847)
- Name authority
- (Jerdon, 1847)
- Common name
- Travancore Flying Squirrel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Petinomys
- 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
- genusPetinomys Thomas, 1908
- speciesPetinomys fuscocapillus (Jerdon, 1847)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Petinomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Siberut Flying SquirrelPetinomys lugens (Thomas, 1895) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mindanao Flying SquirrelPetinomys mindanensis (Rabor, 1939) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hagen's Flying SquirrelPetinomys hageni (Jentink, 1888) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Temminck's Flying SquirrelPetinomys setosus (Temminck, 1844) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vordermann's Flying SquirrelPetinomys vordermanni (Jentink, 1890) | 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=632517 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:76V2C. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.