The Himalayan large-eared flying squirrel (''Priapomys leonardi'') is a species of

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe (biology), tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family (biology), family Squirrel, Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight i ...

found in southwestern

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and adjoining

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. It is the only member of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Priapomys''.

Taxonomy

''P. leonardi'' was formerly considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

particolored flying squirrel The particolored flying squirrel (''Hylopetes alboniger'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical ...

(''Hylopetes alboniger'') as ''H. a. leonardi''. It was initially described as a species of '' Pteromys'' from a single specimen collected in

in 1921 by

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

, which remained the only record of the taxon for over 90 years. Future taxonomic treatments, without serious review of the taxon, considered it a subspecies of ''H. alboniger'', and other treatments outright considered it synonymous with ''H. alboniger''. In surveys from 2014 to 2016, whose results were published in 2021, several flying squirrels morphologically very similar to the original ''H. a. leonardi'' specimen were collected on Mt. Gaoligong in

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

; genetic analysis performed upon these found these to not only represent their own species, but a completely separate genus most closely related to ''

Iomys ''Iomys'' is a small genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including ...

'', a genus of flying squirrel restricted to

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...

. This new genus was named ''Priapomys'' after the Greek fertility god

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He becam ...

, as reference to the very large

glans penis In male human anatomy, the glans penis or penile glans, commonly referred to as the glans, (; from Latin ''glans'' meaning "acorn") is the bulbous structure at the Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal, distal end of the human penis ...

of male members of this species. The

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

recognizes these results. ''Priapomys'' and ''Iomys'' are thought to have diverged during the mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Description

This species has a larger

external ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the external part of the ear, which consists of the auricle (anatomy), auricle (also pinna) and the ear canal. It gathers sound energy and focuses it on the eardrum (tympanic membrane). Structur ...

than most other flying squirrels, and has a less-developed

uropatagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including b ...

. It can also be differentiated by aspects in the development of its

cheek teeth Cheek teeth or postcanines comprise the molar and premolar teeth in mammals. Cheek teeth are multicuspidate (having many folds or tubercles). Mammals have multicuspidate molars (three in placentals, four in marsupials, in each jaw quadrant) and ...

, as well as its larger

Conservation

Due to its small body size, this species is not actively hunted or poached, but it is indiscriminately caught in traps set for hunting meat by visiting herb collectors. This species has also been observed being sold in wet markets in the vicinity of Mt. Gaoligong. Despite its small range, this species is not thought to be extremely threatened, and thus it has been proposed that it be classified as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108479845 Flying squirrels Mammals described in 1921 Rodents of China Rodents of Myanmar Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas