Japanese giant flying squirrel

The Japanese giant flying squirrel, known in Japanese as musasabi, is one of the giant flying squirrels of the genus Petaurista and is native to the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu in Japan. It is a tree dweller that rests in tree holes by day and glides between trees at night on a fur-covered membrane stretched between its wrists and ankles, using its tail for stability; glides of 160 meters have been recorded. The body is about 25 to 50 centimeters long with a tail a further 30 to 40 centimeters, and it weighs between 700 and 1,500 grams, which makes it much larger than the related Japanese dwarf flying squirrel. It eats fruit and nuts, and it inhabits sub-alpine and boreal evergreen forests. Females have a home range of about one hectare and males about two. Sexual maturity is reached after about two years, gestation lasts about 74 days, and one or two young are born in early autumn.