Tibetan woolly flying squirrel

The Tibetan woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus tibetensis) is a species of very large flying squirrel in the genus Eupetaurus. It is found in the south-central portion of the Tibetan Plateau, namely south-central Tibet, northern Sikkim, and western Bhutan.[1][2][3]

Tibetan woolly flying squirrel
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Eupetaurus
Species:	E. tibetensis
Binomial name
Eupetaurus tibetensis Jackson, Helgen, Q. Li & Jiang, 2021

It is thought to be the sister species to the Yunnan woolly flying squirrel (E. nivamons), from which it likely diverged during the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. It differs from the western woolly flying squirrel (E. cinereus) in its saturated brown pelage with a reddish tinge, and differs from E. nivamons in its black tail tip being much longer than that of E. nivamons.[2]

Although its existence was known since 1879, due to the very few specimens collected, it remained undescribed until 2021. It is only known from several historical specimens. It has been recommended that it be classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List.[2]