280 B-ODENTIA,
Pteromys philippensis, Elliot,1 Madr. Joum. Lit. and Sc. vol. x. 1889, p. 217.
Pteromys griseiventer, Gray, Hand-List Mamin. B. M. 1848, p. 188; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng.
vol. xxviii. 1859, p, 277.
Pteromys inornatus, Müller und Schlegel, Verhandl, 1889-44, p. 106.
Pteromys oral, Tickell, Cal. Joum. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. 1842, p. 401, pi. xi. ; Schinz, Syn. Mamm.
1845, vol. ii. p. 5 9 ; Kelaart, Prod. Pauna Zeylanica, 1852, p. 55.
Pteromys nitidus, Kelaart, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 157.
This is the only large flying squirrel, properly so called, occurring in India and
in the Island of Ceylon.
The head is large, and the upper parts are dusky maroon-black, grizzled with
whitish, due to the presence of a sub-apical white hand, which terminates in an
inconspicuous black point. The parachute and the limbs are much lighter and more
rufous-maroon. The feet, muzzle, and around the eyes are black, and the male is
distinguished by an irregular patch of rufous on the sides of the neck, which in the
female is a sort of pale fawn.2 The tail, which is rather longer than the body, is
bushy, and its terminal two-thirds or three-fourths are black or blackish, with rarely
a little white at the extreme tip. The under parts are dingy brownish-grey, sometimes
nearly greyish-white.
The Marquis of Tweedale procured in Travancore a specimen much paler than
usual, being of a light maroon-brown above, and with yellowish-white, sub-apical
bands; the long hair behind the ears being pale rufous instead of dark maroon-
brown. The feet are only in part blackish, especially the fore feet; the muzzle and
around the eyes are dark brown, and the tail has its terminal three-fifths uniformly
rufous brown, a little darker at the tip, while its base is paler, and slightly white-
grizzled. The under parts are clad with scanty annulated hairs of a predominant
pale colour; and two whitish streaks extend longitudinally along the mammae.
In the British Museum, there are two examples of this species from Madras
presented by Sir Walter Elliot; one is much darker than the other in the basal
portion of its fur, which is dark blackish-brown, while in the paler individual the
hidden portion of the fur is pale earthy-brown. In both, the hair of the head,
neck, and upper surface of the parachute, has whitish sub-apical bands and black
tips, but the white rings are much more pronounced in the dark than in the pale
specimen. In the former, the hair on the parachute is very broadly banded with
yellowish-brown and with rufous, whereas in the foregoing Travancore specimen,
which in other respects resembles it, the parachute is dark brown, with only a few
hairs with pale sub-apical rings. There can, however, be no doubt of the specific
identity of all these specimens.
I I have not been able to trace tbe term P . philippensis beyond its occurrence in Sir Walter Elliot’s Catalogue
and tbe explanation which he gives of it. In writing o f the specimens which he had forwarded to the British Museum,
and which now stand there under the name P . petaurista, he says: “ Mr. Gray designated the specimens of this
species presented to the British Museum by the specific name of P . philippensis, and showed a former description, of
them under this title, the source of which I have mislaid. I cannot find any such species indicated in Griffith or
Fischer’s Synonyms nor in any work to which I have access.” The name P . philippensis is probably founded on
Buffon's description of the Taguwn from the Philippines, I. e,
j Elliot {I. c.).
PTEBOMYS. 281
Three specimens of this species exist in the Leyden Museum, two from Colombo,
Ceylon, collected by Diard, and the other from the Himalaya. The only difference
between them is that the former specimens haye the tail not quite so black as the
Himalayan individual. Both are much grizzled with white all oyer the upper parts,
head, back, and wing membrane.
The two types, of P. grisementer are in the British Museum, but their habitat
is unknown. They exactly agree with the specimen procured, by the Marquis of
Tweedale at Travancore, except that the under parts are slightly greyish.
This species ranges from Ceylon northwards to the Himalaya, and Tickell met
with it in the Midnapore jungles and described it as P. oral. There is a specimen
■in the British Museum said to haye come from Singapore, but as that port is the
centre to which animals from all parts of Southern and Eastern Asia, are carried
for sale, it is highly probable that it was taken thither from Ceylon or Southern
India.
Mr. Baker remarks1 that this species, like other flying squirrels, being nocturnal
in its habits, is difficult to procure, except by watching under fruit-trees on moonlight
nights, or, when the forest is cut down, by observing the hollow trunks and
securing their tenants. The noise that this squirrel makes by night in the depths
of old jungles, he states, is sometimes alarming to strangers.
P t e r o m y s c in e r a c e t j s , Blyth.
Pteromys petaurista, Walker, Cal. Joum. Nat. Hist. 1848, vol. iii. p. 266; Horsfield, Cat. Mamm.
E. Ind. Co/s Mus. 1851, p. 159 (in part);
Pteromys petmrista var. emeraceus, Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. 18*7, vol. xvi. pt. ii p 86s f l l s
Pteromys eimraceus, Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beug. 1850, vol. xxviii. p. 876; M i. vol. xliv. 1875
ext. No. p. 85; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Beng. 1863, p. 94.
This species is closely allied to P. oral, from, which it is distinguished by the
grey character of its fur, and its almost white, but. black-tipped' tail. In form it -
exactly resembles that species which it represents in Assam, Burma, and Tenasserim.
Blyth describes it as differing from P. oral in the more predominating white tips
to the hairs, which impart a hoary appearance to the whole upper surface, which is
continued along the bushy tail to the blackish tip. The fur generally it an intermixture
of pale greyish and brownish, the hairs of the back and head having a
whitish sub-terminal band, whereas, on the tail, the pale greyish or hoary prevails,
to the exclusion of the brown hairs. The upper surface of the parachute is reddish-
brown and ungrizzled, if a few hairs are excepted which have a pale reddish-yellow
sub-apical band. The under parts are pure white, , or nearly so. The dimensions
are the same as those of P. oral, Tickell, of which it will probably prove to be a
local race.
In the India Museum, London, there are two examples of this flying squirrel,
and in the Calcutta Museum there are two adults and a young specimen from
1 Joum. As. Soc. Beng. (1859), vol. xxviii. p. 287.