Integrated wildlife forensics and systematics identified first evidence of occurrence of Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) from India – a case study

Integrated wildlife forensics and systematics identified first evidence of occurrence of Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) from India – a case study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Integrated wildlife forensics and systematics identified first evidence of occurrence of Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) from India – a case study Stanzin Dolker, Sutithi Mitra, Subhojit Pramanick, Lenrik Konchok Wangmo, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 17 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The present study conducted as part of a forensic investigation following an integrated taxonomy approach provides novel genetic evidence of occurrence of the Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista yunnanensis from India. We sequenced two mitochondrial genes (Cyt b and 16S rRNA) that showed > 96. % sequence similarity and lowest genetic distance (0.040) with P. yunnanensis . The Bayesian based phylogenetic analysis revealed paraphy and ~ 2.19 million years’ divergence with P. yunnanensis indicating the occurrence of a distinct phylogenetic lineage. The morphological examination of pelage and crani0-dental features also coincided with the genetic inferences. The principal component analysis based on 25 cranial measurements across eight Petaurista species showed that the studied specimen showed a close morphometric affinity with P. albiventer and P. philippensis . The present study underscores the role of wildlife forensics in investigating illegal trade involving lesser-known taxa and suggests the possible occurrence of P. yunnanensis in India, as evidenced by its seizure in a village area. This study also highlights. Petaurista yunnanensis Mitrochondrial DNA phylogenetic analysis Cranio-dental Wildlife forensic Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Introduction Among the gliding mammals, the flying squirrels of the family Sciuridae have the greatest diversity within the order Rodentia (Thorington Jr & Heaney, 1981 ). The family Sciuridae comprises of diverse groups, characterized by a wide range of ecological adaptation including arboreal, ground-dwelling, and gliding / flying squirrels(Jackson & Thorington Jr, 2012 ). The Sciuridae family consist of 51 genera that includes 311 species (Burgin et al. 2018; Sharma et al., 2024). The genus Petaurista includes the giant flying squirrels. India is home to 12 recorded species belonging to 15 genera, out of the 19 species recognized globally(Sharma et al., 2024).Of which, P.petaurista and P. philippensis are distributed in the Western Ghats and peninsular India, while remaining species are inhabited across northern and northeastern region of the country (Koli, 2016 ).Studies on flying squirrels are limited due to their elusive nature, crepuscular behavior, and cryptic habitats. Additionally, flying squirrels are vulnerable due to habitat degradation and hunting, often driven by cultural and ethno-zoological practices(Abedin et al., 2025 ). The genus Petaurista represents diverse group of species and subspecies (Thorington Jr & Hoffmann, 2005 ). However, due to their overlapping morphological characters, such as pelage colour patterns, dental and cranial characteristics, the taxonomic classification remains unclear (Krishna & Kumar, 2014 ). Corbet & Hill, (1992) treated P. albiventer as a synonym of P. petaurista , and considered P. philippensis as a separate species. Thorington & Hoffmann ( 2005 ) considered P. hainana and P. yunanensis as subspecies of P. philippensis . Yu et al., (2006) considered P. hainana as a subspecies of P. yunanensis while, Li et al., ( 2013 ) as a distinct species.Recent genetic and morphological studies have suggested that P. hainana , P. albiventer , and P. yunanensis could be distinct species (Yu et al., 2006; Li et al., 2012 , 2013 ). With no common consensus among the biologists and with the increasing number of new species from 5 to 19, within the genus Petaurista the taxonomic classification remain controversial, leading to ambiguity in the total number of recognized species(Li et al., 2013 ).Currently the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species recognized only ten species of Petaurista of which eight are distributed in India (Sharma et al., 2015 ; Koli, 2016 ).The present study has originated from a forensic case received by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) as part of its routine wildlife forensic investigations involving confiscated specimens. A complete specimen of a flying squirrel, reportedly seized from the state of Sikkim, India, was submitted to ZSI Headquarters, Kolkata, by the Divisional Forest Officer, Jalpaiguri Forest Division, West Bengal. Materials and Methods Molecular analysis The genomic DNA was extracted from the seized specimen using DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen, Germany) following the manufacturer’s protocol. The partial fragments of two mitochondrial genes, i.e., Cytochrome b and 16S Rrna were PCR amplified using the universal primers (Verma & Singh, 2003 -cyt b and Romano & Palumbi, 1997 -16S rRNA). The PCR amplicons were cleaned up using Exo-SAP treatment and Sanger sequencing was performed on SeqStudio 24 Flex Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, USA) using the Big Dye terminator cycle sequencing kit v3.1 (Applied Biosystems, USA). The raw sequences obtained were checked and cleaned manually using Sequencher version 5.4.6 ( www.genecode.com ). Generated sequences were matched for similarity search using the online tool ‘BLAST’ (Basic Local Alignment Sequencing Tool) of NCBI, and the most homologous sequences, considering a threshold of > 88% similarity were downloaded from NCBI/GenBank (Table S1 ).The Phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using a Bayesian approach in BEAST v2.5 (Bouckaert et al., 2019 ) with the appropriate HKY model which had the lowest AIC value. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations were run for 20 million generations, sampling every 1000th tree, with the first 20% of sampled trees discarded as burn-in. The final phylogenetic tree was annotated to obtain the maximum clade credibility (MCC) using Tree Annotator v1.8.1 (Bouckaert et al., 2019 ) and visualized in FigTree v1.4.0 (Rambaut, 2016 ). Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree was also analysed with both Cyt b and 16S rRNA using the General Time Reversible Model (GTR + G)in MEGA X (Kumar et al., 2018 ). Pairwise genetic distances among mitochondrial partial Cytb gene sequences were calculated using the Tamura-Nei substitution model in MEGA X(Kumar et al., 2018 ). Morphological Analysis: We extracted the skull from the studied specimen for the cranio-dental analysis and a total of twenty-five cranio-dental (Cranio-maxillary = 17 and Mandibular = 8) measurements were recorded using a digital vernier caliper with a precision of 0.01 mm(Table 2 ) (Martin et al., 2011 ). Additionally, we also examined 52 intact adult skulls belonging to eight Petaurista species archived in the National Zoological Collection (NZC) of ZSI for cranio-dental measurements (Table S2). To explore variation in cranio-dental measurements among Petaurista species, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted in RStudio using the prcomp () (Hothorn & Everitt, 2009 ; Coghlan, 2017 ) function with 25 cranio-dental variables from eight recognized Petaurista species along with the specimen from this study (FI434).The results were then visualized using the plotly package(Sievert et al., 2021 ) and 95% confidence ellipses for each species group were generated using the ellipse package to illustrate clustering and variation within groups. PERMANOVA (Anderson, 2001 ), was conducted using the adonis2 function in the vegan package in RStudio (Oksanen et al., 2018 ), to test for statistically significant differences among species in multivariate space based on principal component scores (Table S3). Results and Discussion Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis The two novel sequences generated showed 96.69% and 98.99% similarity with the Cyt b and 16S RNA gene of Petaurista yunannensis , respectively. To our surprise, Petaurista yunannensis is not reported from India until this case work. The Bayesian based phylogenetic analysis of Cytb genesequences showed sequence generated in this study clustered in the group of P. yunnanensis , with showing ~ 2.19 Mya divergence (Fig. 1 ). Similar clustering pattern was also reflected in the ML based phylogenetic tree reconstructed with Cytb and 16S RNA phylogeny (Fig. S1 ).Phylogenetic analysis corroborated that the studied flying squirrel specimen was of P. yunnanensis , which was further supported by a low pairwise genetic distance of 0.040 (Table 1 ).The observed divergence suggests a cryptic diversity within the Petaurista genus which was in line of earlier studies that highlighted the complex phylogenetic history and unresolved taxonomic position within the Petaurista genus (Smith & Xie, 2013 ; Wei et al., 2016 ).Moreover, this specimen is from a forensic case so the actual source location is still unknown and since, P. yunnanensis was not previously recorded from India. No surprise, the specimen represents a novel and phylogenetically diverged lineage P. yunnanensis . The two sequences of P. albiventer / yunnanensis * (JQ928701 and JQ928702) submitted by Li et al., ( 2013 ) to NCBI as Petaurista albiventer grouped with P. yunnanensis (Fig. 1 ). However, the authors described these sequences as P. yunnanensis , indicating a discrepancy in the species annotation. This observation is further supported by the pairwise distance analyses, where the genetic distance between P. albiventer/ yunnanensis* and P. yunnanensis was 0.01, while it was slightly higher 0.071with the other P. albiventer (Table 1 ). Morphological Identification The dorsal pelage of the specimen examined in this study was rich reddish-brown to dark chestnut, consistent with published descriptions of P. yunnanensis (Fig. S2A) (Francis 2008 ). In comparison, P. petaurista typically exhibits a more rufous coloration, with a paler head and tail, and a distinct black tail tip. P. philippensis lacks the combination of a grey back and red gliding membranes that are seen in P. yunnanensis (Francis 2008 ).The head–body length (362 mm) and tail length (500 mm) observed in the specimen were also consistent with reported measurements for P. yunnanensis (Table S3) (Francis 2008 ; Li et al., 2012 ). Cranio-dental features of the studied specimen include a moderately arched skull profile and small, compressed auditory bullae traits that align with P. yunnanensis (Fig. S2B). Dentition was characterized by large, procumbent upper incisors and broad, bunodont cheek teeth with low, rounded cusps (Fig. S2 B ii). Tooth rows were nearly parallel, and the dental arcade was broadly U-shaped. The palate was wide, flat, and extended beyond the last molars, with visible palatal foramina (Fig. S2B ii). The postorbital processes were prominent and laterally projecting (Fig. S2B ii, iii). The mandible was robust, with a high coronoid process (Fig. 2Bv); the lower incisors were thick and heavily worn (Fig. S2B iv, v). All the Cranio-dental features of the specimen aligned with the previous studies of P. yunnanensis (Francis 2008 ; Li et al., 2012 ). Principal component analysis (PCA) of cranio-dental measurements: The PCA scatterplots with the Cranio-maxillary showed a distinct clustering of samples corresponding to their species (Fig. 2 A). Confidence ellipses (95%) further supported this clustering, particularly for P. petaurista , P. caniceps , and P. sybilla , which formed well-separated clusters, indicating distinct Cranio-maxillary structures (Fig. 2 B). While the P. philippensis showed more scattered distribution and overlapped with P. albiventer , most likely due to their wide distribution and. In contrast, the studied specimen, FI-434, was positioned within this overlapping region, suggesting strong morphometric affinity with both P. philippensis and P. albiventer . Previous studies have noted that Petaurista yunanensis closely resembles P. philippensis in external morphology and lacks distinct diagnostic traits (Allen, 1940). Yu et al. (2013) also reported that P. yunanensis clustered near P. philippensis , likely reflecting their sympatric distributions and similar ecological niches. However, the lack of reference specimens for P. yunanensis and several Indian Petaurista species such as P. elegans , P. nobilis , P. mechukaensis , and P. mishmiensis represents a limitation of this study. Comparison with congeners: P.albiventer is characterized by paler ventral fur and more contrasting pelage, primarily confined to the northwestern Himalayas. In contrast, P. alborufus is larger, with rich rufous dorsal fur and white underparts, often featuring a white-tipped tail. P. caniceps is smaller, with a grey head and shoulders that contrast with its reddish body, and is restricted to the northeastern Himalayas. P. magnificus displays prominent rufous-orange pelage marked with black and has a shorter, fluffier tail. P. nobilis is significantly larger, exhibiting darker pelage with a golden sheen, along with a longer skull and larger zygomatic arch. P. petaurista is very large, shows variable coloration, and has a broader distribution, often lacking the chestnut hue typical of P. yunnanensis . P. philippensis is smaller, with more uniform brown fur and lacks contrasting features. P. sybilla is rare and poorly known, reportedly smaller with distinctive facial markings (Francis 2008 ; Lēkagul and McNeely, 1977). The studied flying squirrel specimen was identified as the Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista yunnanensis Milne-Edwards, 1872, a species not known to occur in India. It is widely distributed across Southeast Asia, western China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou), Myanmar, northern Laos, and northern Vietnam, typically occurring at elevations between 1,000 and 3,500 m (Francis 2008 ; Xian and Harding, 2013 ). However, P. yunnanensis is not currently recognized by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2025), leaving its actual distribution range uncertain. This species formerly considered a subspecies of P . philippensis , but genetic and morphological studies have confirmed it as distinct species (Oshida et al., 2004 , 2011 ; Yu et al., 2006; Li et al., 2013 ). This study provides the first genetic evidence suggesting the occurrence of Petaurista yunnanensis in India, while also highlighting significant taxonomic uncertainties due to the absence of comparative genetic and morphological data for Indian Petaurista species. These findings emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive, integrative taxonomic research to resolve species boundaries and strengthen forensic identification frameworks for lesser-known taxa involved in illegal wildlife trade. Declarations Funding statement: The study was supported by the in-house grant and facilities provided by the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. Author information: Author and Affiliations Zoological Survey of India, M Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, West Bengal, India Stanzin Dolker, Sutithi Mitra , Subhojit Pramanick, Lenrik Konchok Wangmo, Kamalakannan Manokaran, Lalit Kumar Sharma and Mukesh Thakur. Manglayatan University Mathura Road, Aligarh, Beswan, Uttar Pradesh-202145 Nipun Mohan Contributions: Conceptualization: MT, LKS, KM and SD; Methodology: SM, SP, LKW, NM and SD; visualization: SD and MT; and writing: SD, KM,SM and MT. Corresponding author: Mukesh Thakur, E-mail: [email protected] Ethics declarations Ethics approval and Consent to participate: Not applicable Clinical trial number: Not applicable Consent to Publish declaration: Not applicable Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Data availability statement: The novel sequences generated sequences generated were submitted to NCBI GenBank under the following accession numbers: (Cytochrome b: PX826255 and 16S rRNA: PX806263) Acknowledgements : We thank the Director of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, for providing laboratory infrastructure support, and the Divisional Forest Officer, Jalpaiguri Forest Division, West Bengal, for providing the sample and information. References Abedin I, Kamalakannan M, Mukherjee T, Choudhury A, Singha H, Abedin J, et al. Fading into Obscurity: Impact of Climate Change on Suitable Habitats for Two Lesser-Known Giant Flying Squirrels (Sciuridae: Petaurista) in Northeastern India. Biology. 2025;14:242. Anderson MJ. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecol. 2001;26:32–46. Bouckaert R, Vaughan TG, Barido-Sottani J, Duchêne S, Fourment M, Gavryushkina A, et al. BEAST 2.5: An advanced software platform for Bayesian evolutionary analysis. PLoS Comput Biol. 2019;15:e1006650. Coghlan A. A little book of R for multivariate analysis. Wellcome Sanger Institute; 2017. Francis CM, Barrett P. A guide to the mammals of Southeast Asia. (No Title; 2008. Hothorn T, Everitt BS. A Handbook of Statistical Analyses Using R. Chapman and Hall/CRC; 2009. Jackson SM, Thorington RW Jr. Gliding mammals: taxonomy of living and extinct species. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology; 2012. Koli VK. (2016) Biology and conservation status of flying squirrels (Pteromyini, Sciuridae, Rodentia) in India: an update and review. In Proceedings of the Zoological Society pp. 9–21. Springer. Krishna CM, Kumar A. (2014) Why the Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista is often mistaken for the Namdapha Gliding Squirrel Biswamoyopterus biswasi (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa , 6, 6138–6141. Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society. Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K. MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across Computing Platforms. Mol Biol Evol. 2018;35:1547–9. Lēkhakun B, McNeely JA. Mammals of Thailand. Association for the Conservation of Wildlife; 1977. Li S, He K, Yu F-H, Yang Q-S. Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Petaurista Inferred from the Cytochrome b Gene, with Implications for the Taxonomic Status of P. caniceps, P. marica and P. sybilla. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e70461. Li S, Yu F-H, Xue-Fei LÜ. Cranial morphometric study of four giant flying squirrels (Petaurista)(Rodentia: Sciuridae) from China. Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 2012. Martin RE, Pine RH, DeBlase AF. A manual of mammalogy: with keys to families of the world. Waveland; 2011. Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Friendly M, Kindt R, Legendre P, McGlinn D, et al. vegan: Community Ecology Package. CRAN R-Project; 2018. Oshida T, Lin L-K, Chang S-W, Chen Y-J, Lin J-K. (2011) Phylogeography of two sympatric giant flying squirrel subspecies, Petaurista alborufus lena and P. philippensis grandis (Rodentia: Sciuridae), in Taiwan. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 102, 404–419. Oxford University Press. Oshida T, Shafique CM, Barkati S, Fujita Y, Lin L-K, Masuda R. A preliminary study on molecular phylogeny of giant flying squirrels, genus Petaurista (Rodentia, Sciuridae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences. Russian J Theriology Русский териологический журнал. 2004;3:15–24. Общество с ограниченной ответственностью Товарищество научных изданий КМК. Rambaut A. (2016) FigTree version 1.4. 0 Available at http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree . Accessed October . Romano SL, Palumbi SR. (1997) Molecular evolution of a portion of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal gene region in scleractinian corals. Journal of Molecular Evolution , 45, 397–411. Springer. Sharma G, Kamalakannan M, Venkataraman K. (2015) A checklist of mammals of India with their distribution and conservation status. Zool Surv India, 111. Sievert C, Parmer C, Hocking T, Chamberlain S, Ram K, Corvellec M et al. (2021) Package ‘plotly’. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. Available in : https://cran . r-project . org/package = plotly (accessed 10 August 2023) . Smith AT, Xie Y. Mammals of China. Princeton University Press; 2013. Thorington RW Jr, Heaney LR. (1981) Body proportions and gliding adaptations of flying squirrels (Petauristinae). Journal of Mammalogy , 62, 101–114. American Society of Mammalogists 810 East 10th Street, PO Box 1897, Lawrence …. Thorington RW Jr, Hoffmann RS. Family sciuridae. Mammal Species of the World, A taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. Johns Hopkins University; 2005. Verma SK, Singh L. Novel universal primers establish identity of an enormous number of animal species for forensic application. Mol Ecol Notes. 2003;3:28–31. Wiley Online Library. Wei W, Zhou W, Chen Q, Yang Y, Krzton A, Hu J, Li D. (2016) Phylogenetic studies of Petaurista petauri based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mitochondrial DNA Part B , 1, 708–709. Taylor & Francis. Wilson DE, Reeder DM. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. JHU; 2005. Xian HL, Harding L. (2013) Behaviour of Yunnan giant flying squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) at a mineral lick in Yunnan, China. TAPROBANICA: J Asian Biodivers, 5. Yu, Farong, Yu, Fahong, Pang J, Kilpatrick CW, McGuire PM, Wang Y, et al. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Petaurista philippensis complex (Rodentia: Sciuridae), inter- and intraspecific relationships inferred from molecular and morphometric analysis. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2006;38:755–66. Tables Table 1 Pairwise sequence genetic distance matrix based on mitochondrial partial Cytb gene sequences with the Tamura-Nei substitution model using MEGA X. FI-434 sample from present study and misidentified sequences of P. albiventer submitted to GenBank were marked with *. . FI-434 P. yunanensis P. albiventer* P. albiventer P. philippensis P. hainana P. alborufus P. alborufus castaneus P. grandis P. melanotus FI-434 P. yunanensis 0.040 P. albiventer* 0.045 0.010 P. albiventer 0.085 0.065 0.071 P. philippensis 0.100 0.102 0.114 0.113 P. hainana 0.126 0.114 0.121 0.135 0.068 P. alborufus 0.142 0.137 0.136 0.138 0.076 0.069 P. alborufus castaneus 0.145 0.141 0.140 0.137 0.074 0.067 0.008 P. grandis 0.155 0.145 0.146 0.146 0.149 0.156 0.160 0.150 P. melanotus 0.150 0.140 0.141 0.146 0.148 0.146 0.170 0.159 0.026 Table 2 External and cranio-dental measurements (in mm; weight in kg) of a Petaurista yunnanensis specimen used in this study. Trait Measurement (mm) Head-Body Length 362 Tail Length 500 Hind Foot Length 71 Ear Length 36 Weight 0.851 kg Greatest Skull Length 71.8 Upper Incisor Length 9.32 Upper Incisor to Molar Length 17.41 Diastema Length 13.65 Upper Molar Length 16.61 Rostrum Height 21.55 Greatest Cranial Height 27.33 Nasal Width 12.77 Greatest Nasal Width 14.17 Nasal Bone Length 20.91 Interorbital Breadth 18.42 Frontal Bone Length 23.7 Frontal Bone Width 14.89 Zygomatic Breadth 45.17 Braincase Breadth 31.82 Occipital Condyle Width 17.03 Tympanic Bulla Length 11.95 Lower Incisor Length 14.96 Lower Incisor–Coronoid Length 41.67 Lower Incisor–Condyle Length 48.67 Lower Incisor–Angular process Length 48.72 Mandibular Height 28.58 Ramus to Molar Height 15.22 Lower Molar Length 16.13 Lower Molar to Incisor Length 15.64 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryfiguresandtableDiscoverConservation.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 30 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 19 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 19 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 29 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 16 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 14 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8440080","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":594996601,"identity":"8612dfd6-b97e-4cba-a13c-d58ec358c835","order_by":0,"name":"Stanzin Dolker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stanzin","middleName":"","lastName":"Dolker","suffix":""},{"id":594996602,"identity":"24317805-56c1-4bd6-97de-3f2878a2f1fa","order_by":1,"name":"Sutithi Mitra","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sutithi","middleName":"","lastName":"Mitra","suffix":""},{"id":594996603,"identity":"3ca11d47-b44a-416f-b494-f71bfe9111a6","order_by":2,"name":"Subhojit Pramanick","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Subhojit","middleName":"","lastName":"Pramanick","suffix":""},{"id":594996604,"identity":"9c192549-c720-421f-b3ca-d1b32b010257","order_by":3,"name":"Lenrik Konchok Wangmo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lenrik","middleName":"Konchok","lastName":"Wangmo","suffix":""},{"id":594996605,"identity":"6085a3a8-e033-49f2-b6c3-e1f8a27ab2a3","order_by":4,"name":"Kamalakannan Manokaran","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kamalakannan","middleName":"","lastName":"Manokaran","suffix":""},{"id":594996606,"identity":"4e9e34c8-6a53-4c84-8518-e212fd12b17f","order_by":5,"name":"Nipun Mohan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Manglayatan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nipun","middleName":"","lastName":"Mohan","suffix":""},{"id":594996607,"identity":"a3f2b5ea-fc2b-4bfe-b85b-d4a811b3ca93","order_by":6,"name":"Lalit Kumar Sharma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lalit","middleName":"Kumar","lastName":"Sharma","suffix":""},{"id":594996608,"identity":"9de46805-c67b-470a-a0b8-b9707d9e62b2","order_by":7,"name":"Mukesh Thakur","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCRBxgIHBgL0ByDCwIKyDB66F5wBIiwQpWiQS4JbiB/bSzU8385yxsTeXfH51w48CCQb+9u4E/LbIHDO7zXMjLXHn7Jyymz1Ah0mcObuBgMMSgFo+HE4wuJ2TdoMHqMVAIpeQlvRvQC3/7Q1unkm7+Yc4LTkghx1g3HCD/dht4my5AfTCnDPJiRvO5LDdljGQ4CHoF/YZ6dtuvDlmZ29w/Pizm2/+2Mjxt/fi14JsoQGYJFY52MIHpKgeBaNgFIyCEQQANnxLxDawD48AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Zoological Survey of India","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mukesh","middleName":"","lastName":"Thakur","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-24 07:24:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103345741,"identity":"bb58c147-9e51-4f46-98fc-5bc8ac8090a9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-24 16:15:13","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":139158,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBayesian inference-based phylogenetic relationships of Petaurista reconstructed using the cytochrome b gene. The sample from this study is marked with a red star. Two discrepant sequences labeled as P. albiventer/yunnanensis (JQ928701 and JQ928702) are marked blue star.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8440080/v1/bef093f178baa8a06d79d15a.png"},{"id":103345742,"identity":"aa9f6022-8966-4d9a-a73a-3e41f758438c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-24 16:15:13","extension":"jpeg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":431543,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePrincipal Component Analysis (PCA) of cranio-maxillary measurements of eight Petaurista species, along with the forensic case specimen FI-434 (red star). Each species is represented by a distinct shape and color. A: PCA plot showing the distribution of individuals based on their PC1 and PC2 scores. B: PCA plot with 95% confidence ellipses illustrating the clustering pattern of each species group.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8440080/v1/6a3246e8b0424c4390ffac21.jpeg"},{"id":103345740,"identity":"8b90920e-e655-4949-890c-035eef912de8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-24 16:15:13","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":143081,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePrincipal Component Analysis (PCA) of Mandible a measure of eight Petaurista species along with the forensic case specimen FI-434 (red aster). Each species is represented by a distinct shape and color. A:PCA plot showing the distribution of individuals based on their PC1 and PC2 scores. B: PCA plot with 95% confidence ellipses illustrating the clustering pattern of each species group.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8440080/v1/57ac9b59293f17aa59254762.png"},{"id":104397528,"identity":"fc850a71-2ef2-4aaf-a42b-399cb65b4a79","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 11:50:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1585643,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8440080/v1/76d4a40b-eecd-4e72-a47e-0f6d3a1162eb.pdf"},{"id":103345743,"identity":"aa5debb3-f656-4dc6-9030-426ee7de3fae","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-24 16:15:13","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":939256,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryfiguresandtableDiscoverConservation.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8440080/v1/66a2650b49c7f3a2f8a760cd.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eIntegrated wildlife forensics and systematics identified first evidence of occurrence of Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) from India – a case study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAmong the gliding mammals, the flying squirrels of the family Sciuridae have the greatest diversity within the order Rodentia (Thorington Jr \u0026amp; Heaney, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1981\u003c/span\u003e). The family Sciuridae comprises of diverse groups, characterized by a wide range of ecological adaptation including arboreal, ground-dwelling, and gliding / flying squirrels(Jackson \u0026amp; Thorington Jr, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). The Sciuridae family consist of 51 genera that includes 311 species (Burgin et al. 2018; Sharma et al., 2024). The genus \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e includes the giant flying squirrels. India is home to 12 recorded species belonging to 15 genera, out of the 19 species recognized globally(Sharma et al., 2024).Of which, \u003cem\u003eP.petaurista\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e are distributed in the Western Ghats and peninsular India, while remaining species are inhabited across northern and northeastern region of the country (Koli, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).Studies on flying squirrels are limited due to their elusive nature, crepuscular behavior, and cryptic habitats. Additionally, flying squirrels are vulnerable due to habitat degradation and hunting, often driven by cultural and ethno-zoological practices(Abedin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe genus \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e represents diverse group of species and subspecies (Thorington Jr \u0026amp; Hoffmann, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). However, due to their overlapping morphological characters, such as pelage colour patterns, dental and cranial characteristics, the taxonomic classification remains unclear (Krishna \u0026amp; Kumar, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Corbet \u0026amp; Hill, (1992) treated \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e as a synonym of \u003cem\u003eP. petaurista\u003c/em\u003e, and considered \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e as a separate species. Thorington \u0026amp; Hoffmann (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e) considered \u003cem\u003eP. hainana\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e as subspecies of \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e. Yu et al., (2006) considered \u003cem\u003eP. hainana\u003c/em\u003e as a subspecies of \u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e while, Li et al., (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) as a distinct species.Recent genetic and morphological studies have suggested that \u003cem\u003eP. hainana\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e could be distinct species (Yu et al., 2006; Li et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). With no common consensus among the biologists and with the increasing number of new species from 5 to 19, within the genus \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e the taxonomic classification remain controversial, leading to ambiguity in the total number of recognized species(Li et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).Currently the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species recognized only ten species of \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e of which eight are distributed in India (Sharma et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Koli, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).The present study has originated from a forensic case received by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) as part of its routine wildlife forensic investigations involving confiscated specimens. A complete specimen of a flying squirrel, reportedly seized from the state of Sikkim, India, was submitted to ZSI Headquarters, Kolkata, by the Divisional Forest Officer, Jalpaiguri Forest Division, West Bengal.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMolecular analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe genomic DNA was extracted from the seized specimen using DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen, Germany) following the manufacturer\u0026rsquo;s protocol. The partial fragments of two mitochondrial genes, \u003cem\u003ei.e., Cytochrome b\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003e16S Rrna\u003c/em\u003e were PCR amplified using the universal primers (Verma \u0026amp; Singh, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e-cyt b and Romano \u0026amp; Palumbi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1997\u003c/span\u003e-16S rRNA). The PCR amplicons were cleaned up using Exo-SAP treatment and Sanger sequencing was performed on SeqStudio 24 Flex Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, USA) using the Big Dye terminator cycle sequencing kit v3.1 (Applied Biosystems, USA). The raw sequences obtained were checked and cleaned manually using Sequencher version 5.4.6 (\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.genecode.com\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.genecode.com\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"http://www.genecode.com\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e). Generated sequences were matched for similarity search using the online tool \u0026lsquo;BLAST\u0026rsquo; (Basic Local Alignment Sequencing Tool) of NCBI, and the most homologous sequences, considering a threshold of \u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;88% similarity were downloaded from NCBI/GenBank (Table \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e).The Phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using a Bayesian approach in BEAST v2.5 (Bouckaert et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) with the appropriate HKY model which had the lowest AIC value. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations were run for 20\u0026nbsp;million generations, sampling every 1000th tree, with the first 20% of sampled trees discarded as burn-in. The final phylogenetic tree was annotated to obtain the maximum clade credibility (MCC) using Tree Annotator v1.8.1 (Bouckaert et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) and visualized in FigTree v1.4.0 (Rambaut, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree was also analysed with both \u003cem\u003eCyt b\u003c/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e16S rRNA\u003c/em\u003e using the General Time Reversible Model (GTR\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;G)in MEGA X (Kumar et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Pairwise genetic distances among mitochondrial partial Cytb gene sequences were calculated using the Tamura-Nei substitution model in MEGA X(Kumar et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMorphological Analysis:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe extracted the skull from the studied specimen for the cranio-dental analysis and a total of twenty-five cranio-dental (Cranio-maxillary\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;17 and Mandibular\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;8) measurements were recorded using a digital vernier caliper with a precision of 0.01 mm(Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e) (Martin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Additionally, we also examined 52 intact adult skulls belonging to eight \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species archived in the National Zoological Collection (NZC) of ZSI for cranio-dental measurements (Table S2). To explore variation in cranio-dental measurements among \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted in RStudio using the prcomp () (Hothorn \u0026amp; Everitt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Coghlan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) function with 25 cranio-dental variables from eight recognized \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species along with the specimen from this study (FI434).The results were then visualized using the \u003cem\u003eplotly\u003c/em\u003e package(Sievert et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) and 95% confidence ellipses for each species group were generated using the ellipse package to illustrate clustering and variation within groups. PERMANOVA (Anderson, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e), was conducted using the adonis2 function in the \u003cem\u003evegan\u003c/em\u003e package in RStudio (Oksanen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), to test for statistically significant differences among species in multivariate space based on principal component scores (Table S3).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results and Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMolecular Phylogenetic Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe two novel sequences generated showed 96.69% and 98.99% similarity with the Cyt b and 16S RNA gene of \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunannensis\u003c/em\u003e, respectively. To our surprise, \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunannensis\u003c/em\u003e is not reported from India until this case work. The Bayesian based phylogenetic analysis of Cytb genesequences showed sequence generated in this study clustered in the group of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e, with showing\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;2.19 Mya divergence (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Similar clustering pattern was also reflected in the ML based phylogenetic tree reconstructed with Cytb and 16S RNA phylogeny (Fig. \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e).Phylogenetic analysis corroborated that the studied flying squirrel specimen was of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e, which was further supported by a low pairwise genetic distance of 0.040 (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).The observed divergence suggests a cryptic diversity within the \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e genus which was in line of earlier studies that highlighted the complex phylogenetic history and unresolved taxonomic position within the \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e genus (Smith \u0026amp; Xie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Wei et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).Moreover, this specimen is from a forensic case so the actual source location is still unknown and since, \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e was not previously recorded from India. No surprise, the specimen represents a novel and phylogenetically diverged lineage \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe two sequences of \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer / yunnanensis *\u003c/em\u003e (JQ928701 and JQ928702) submitted by Li et al., (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) to NCBI as \u003cem\u003ePetaurista albiventer\u003c/em\u003e grouped with \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). However, the authors described these sequences as \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e, indicating a discrepancy in the species annotation. This observation is further supported by the pairwise distance analyses, where the genetic distance between \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer/ yunnanensis*\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e was 0.01, while it was slightly higher 0.071with the other \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMorphological Identification\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dorsal pelage of the specimen examined in this study was rich reddish-brown to dark chestnut, consistent with published descriptions of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Fig. S2A) (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e). In comparison, \u003cem\u003eP. petaurista\u003c/em\u003e typically exhibits a more rufous coloration, with a paler head and tail, and a distinct black tail tip. \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e lacks the combination of a grey back and red gliding membranes that are seen in \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e).The head\u0026ndash;body length (362 mm) and tail length (500 mm) observed in the specimen were also consistent with reported measurements for \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Table S3) (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; Li et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Cranio-dental features of the studied specimen include a moderately arched skull profile and small, compressed auditory bullae traits that align with \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Fig. S2B). Dentition was characterized by large, procumbent upper incisors and broad, bunodont cheek teeth with low, rounded cusps (Fig. S2 B ii). Tooth rows were nearly parallel, and the dental arcade was broadly U-shaped. The palate was wide, flat, and extended beyond the last molars, with visible palatal foramina (Fig. S2B ii). The postorbital processes were prominent and laterally projecting (Fig. S2B ii, iii). The mandible was robust, with a high coronoid process (Fig.\u0026nbsp;2Bv); the lower incisors were thick and heavily worn (Fig. S2B iv, v). All the Cranio-dental features of the specimen aligned with the previous studies of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; Li et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003ePrincipal component analysis (PCA) of cranio-dental measurements:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe PCA scatterplots with the Cranio-maxillary showed a distinct clustering of samples corresponding to their species (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eA). Confidence ellipses (95%) further supported this clustering, particularly for \u003cem\u003eP. petaurista\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eP. caniceps\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eP. sybilla\u003c/em\u003e, which formed well-separated clusters, indicating distinct Cranio-maxillary structures (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eB). While the \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e showed more scattered distribution and overlapped with \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e, most likely due to their wide distribution and. In contrast, the studied specimen, FI-434, was positioned within this overlapping region, suggesting strong morphometric affinity with both \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e. Previous studies have noted that \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e closely resembles \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e in external morphology and lacks distinct diagnostic traits (Allen, 1940). Yu et al. (2013) also reported that \u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e clustered near \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e, likely reflecting their sympatric distributions and similar ecological niches. However, the lack of reference specimens for \u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e and several Indian \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species such as \u003cem\u003eP. elegans\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eP. nobilis\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eP. mechukaensis\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eP. mishmiensis\u003c/em\u003e represents a limitation of this study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eComparison with congeners:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eP.albiventer\u003c/em\u003eis characterized by paler ventral fur and more contrasting pelage, primarily confined to the northwestern Himalayas. In contrast, \u003cem\u003eP. alborufus\u003c/em\u003e is larger, with rich rufous dorsal fur and white underparts, often featuring a white-tipped tail. \u003cem\u003eP. caniceps\u003c/em\u003e is smaller, with a grey head and shoulders that contrast with its reddish body, and is restricted to the northeastern Himalayas. \u003cem\u003eP. magnificus\u003c/em\u003e displays prominent rufous-orange pelage marked with black and has a shorter, fluffier tail. \u003cem\u003eP. nobilis\u003c/em\u003e is significantly larger, exhibiting darker pelage with a golden sheen, along with a longer skull and larger zygomatic arch. \u003cem\u003eP. petaurista\u003c/em\u003e is very large, shows variable coloration, and has a broader distribution, often lacking the chestnut hue typical of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e is smaller, with more uniform brown fur and lacks contrasting features. \u003cem\u003eP. sybilla\u003c/em\u003e is rare and poorly known, reportedly smaller with distinctive facial markings (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; Lēkagul and McNeely, 1977).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe studied flying squirrel specimen was identified as the Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e Milne-Edwards, 1872, a species not known to occur in India. It is widely distributed across Southeast Asia, western China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou), Myanmar, northern Laos, and northern Vietnam, typically occurring at elevations between 1,000 and 3,500 m (Francis \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; Xian and Harding, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). However, \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e is not currently recognized by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2025), leaving its actual distribution range uncertain. This species formerly considered a subspecies of \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003ephilippensis\u003c/em\u003e, but genetic and morphological studies have confirmed it as distinct species (Oshida et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Yu et al., 2006; Li et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study provides the first genetic evidence suggesting the occurrence of \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e in India, while also highlighting significant taxonomic uncertainties due to the absence of comparative genetic and morphological data for Indian \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species. These findings emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive, integrative taxonomic research to resolve species boundaries and strengthen forensic identification frameworks for lesser-known taxa involved in illegal wildlife trade.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding statement:\u003c/strong\u003e The study was supported by the in-house grant and facilities provided by the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor information:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor and Affiliations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZoological Survey of India, M Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, West Bengal, India\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStanzin Dolker, Sutithi Mitra\u003csub\u003e,\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003eSubhojit Pramanick, Lenrik Konchok Wangmo, Kamalakannan Manokaran, Lalit Kumar Sharma and \u0026nbsp;Mukesh Thakur.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eManglayatan University Mathura Road, Aligarh, Beswan, Uttar Pradesh-202145\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNipun Mohan\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContributions:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eConceptualization: MT, LKS, KM and SD; Methodology: SM, SP, LKW, NM and SD; visualization: SD and MT; and writing: SD, KM,SM and MT.\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorresponding author:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eMukesh Thakur, E-mail: [email protected]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics declarations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eand\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to participate:\u003c/strong\u003e Not applicable\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical trial number:\u003c/strong\u003e Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Publish declaration:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests:\u003c/strong\u003e The authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability statement:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe novel sequences generated sequences generated were submitted to NCBI GenBank under the following accession numbers: (Cytochrome b: PX826255 and 16S rRNA: PX806263)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e: We thank the Director of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, for providing laboratory infrastructure support, and the Divisional Forest Officer, Jalpaiguri Forest Division, West Bengal, for providing the sample and information.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAbedin I, Kamalakannan M, Mukherjee T, Choudhury A, Singha H, Abedin J, et al. Fading into Obscurity: Impact of Climate Change on Suitable Habitats for Two Lesser-Known Giant Flying Squirrels (Sciuridae: Petaurista) in Northeastern India. Biology. 2025;14:242.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnderson MJ. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecol. 2001;26:32\u0026ndash;46.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBouckaert R, Vaughan TG, Barido-Sottani J, Duch\u0026ecirc;ne S, Fourment M, Gavryushkina A, et al. BEAST 2.5: An advanced software platform for Bayesian evolutionary analysis. PLoS Comput Biol. 2019;15:e1006650.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCoghlan A. A little book of R for multivariate analysis. Wellcome Sanger Institute; 2017.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrancis CM, Barrett P. A guide to the mammals of Southeast Asia. (No Title; 2008.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHothorn T, Everitt BS. A Handbook of Statistical Analyses Using R. Chapman and Hall/CRC; 2009.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJackson SM, Thorington RW Jr. Gliding mammals: taxonomy of living and extinct species. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology; 2012.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKoli VK. (2016) Biology and conservation status of flying squirrels (Pteromyini, Sciuridae, Rodentia) in India: an update and review. In \u003cem\u003eProceedings of the Zoological Society\u003c/em\u003e pp. 9\u0026ndash;21. Springer.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKrishna CM, Kumar A. (2014) Why the Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista is often mistaken for the Namdapha Gliding Squirrel Biswamoyopterus biswasi (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Threatened Taxa\u003c/em\u003e, 6, 6138\u0026ndash;6141. Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K. MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across Computing Platforms. Mol Biol Evol. 2018;35:1547\u0026ndash;9.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLēkhakun B, McNeely JA. Mammals of Thailand. Association for the Conservation of Wildlife; 1977.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLi S, He K, Yu F-H, Yang Q-S. Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Petaurista Inferred from the Cytochrome b Gene, with Implications for the Taxonomic Status of P. caniceps, P. marica and P. sybilla. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e70461.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLi S, Yu F-H, Xue-Fei L\u0026Uuml;. Cranial morphometric study of four giant flying squirrels (Petaurista)(Rodentia: Sciuridae) from China. Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 2012.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMartin RE, Pine RH, DeBlase AF. A manual of mammalogy: with keys to families of the world. Waveland; 2011.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOksanen J, Blanchet FG, Friendly M, Kindt R, Legendre P, McGlinn D, et al. vegan: Community Ecology Package. CRAN R-Project; 2018.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOshida T, Lin L-K, Chang S-W, Chen Y-J, Lin J-K. (2011) Phylogeography of two sympatric giant flying squirrel subspecies, Petaurista alborufus lena and P. philippensis grandis (Rodentia: Sciuridae), in Taiwan. \u003cem\u003eBiological Journal of the Linnean Society\u003c/em\u003e, 102, 404\u0026ndash;419. Oxford University Press.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOshida T, Shafique CM, Barkati S, Fujita Y, Lin L-K, Masuda R. A preliminary study on molecular phylogeny of giant flying squirrels, genus Petaurista (Rodentia, Sciuridae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences. Russian J Theriology Русский териологический журнал. 2004;3:15\u0026ndash;24. Общество с ограниченной ответственностью Товарищество научных изданий КМК.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRambaut A. (2016) FigTree version 1.4. 0 Available at \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttp://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e. \u003cem\u003eAccessed October\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRomano SL, Palumbi SR. (1997) Molecular evolution of a portion of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal gene region in scleractinian corals. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Molecular Evolution\u003c/em\u003e, 45, 397\u0026ndash;411. Springer.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSharma G, Kamalakannan M, Venkataraman K. (2015) A checklist of mammals of India with their distribution and conservation status. Zool Surv India, 111.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSievert C, Parmer C, Hocking T, Chamberlain S, Ram K, Corvellec M et al. (2021) Package \u0026lsquo;plotly\u0026rsquo;. \u003cem\u003eR Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. Available in\u003c/em\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://cran\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://cran\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e. \u003cem\u003er-project\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eorg/package\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;plotly (accessed 10 August 2023)\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSmith AT, Xie Y. Mammals of China. Princeton University Press; 2013.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThorington RW Jr, Heaney LR. (1981) Body proportions and gliding adaptations of flying squirrels (Petauristinae). \u003cem\u003eJournal of Mammalogy\u003c/em\u003e, 62, 101\u0026ndash;114. American Society of Mammalogists 810 East 10th Street, PO Box 1897, Lawrence \u0026amp;#8230.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThorington RW Jr, Hoffmann RS. Family sciuridae. Mammal Species of the World, A taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. Johns Hopkins University; 2005.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVerma SK, Singh L. Novel universal primers establish identity of an enormous number of animal species for forensic application. Mol Ecol Notes. 2003;3:28\u0026ndash;31. Wiley Online Library.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWei W, Zhou W, Chen Q, Yang Y, Krzton A, Hu J, Li D. (2016) Phylogenetic studies of Petaurista petauri based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences. \u003cem\u003eMitochondrial DNA Part B\u003c/em\u003e, 1, 708\u0026ndash;709. Taylor \u0026amp; Francis.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWilson DE, Reeder DM. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. JHU; 2005.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eXian HL, Harding L. (2013) Behaviour of Yunnan giant flying squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) at a mineral lick in Yunnan, China. TAPROBANICA: J Asian Biodivers, 5.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYu, Farong, Yu, Fahong, Pang J, Kilpatrick CW, McGuire PM, Wang Y, et al. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Petaurista philippensis complex (Rodentia: Sciuridae), inter- and intraspecific relationships inferred from molecular and morphometric analysis. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2006;38:755\u0026ndash;66.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Tables","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePairwise sequence genetic distance matrix based on mitochondrial partial Cytb gene sequences with the Tamura-Nei substitution model using MEGA X. FI-434 sample from present study and misidentified sequences of \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e submitted to GenBank were marked with *. .\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"11\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFI-434\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. albiventer*\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. hainana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. alborufus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. alborufus castaneus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. grandis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. melanotus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFI-434\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. yunanensis\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.040\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. albiventer*\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.045\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.010\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.085\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.065\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.071\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.102\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.114\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.113\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. hainana\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.126\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.114\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.135\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.068\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. alborufus\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.142\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.137\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.136\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.138\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.076\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.069\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. alborufus castaneus\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.145\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.141\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.140\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.137\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.074\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.008\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. grandis\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.155\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.145\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.149\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.156\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.160\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.150\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eP. melanotus\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.150\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.140\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.141\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.148\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.170\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.159\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.026\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \n\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExternal and cranio-dental measurements (in mm; weight in kg) of a \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e specimen used in this study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTrait\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeasurement (mm)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHead-Body Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e362\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTail Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHind Foot Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEar Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWeight\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.851 kg\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGreatest Skull Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUpper Incisor Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUpper Incisor to Molar Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiastema Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13.65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUpper Molar Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16.61\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRostrum Height\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGreatest Cranial Height\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27.33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNasal Width\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGreatest Nasal Width\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNasal Bone Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.91\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterorbital Breadth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrontal Bone Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrontal Bone Width\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZygomatic Breadth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBraincase Breadth\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.82\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOccipital Condyle Width\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTympanic Bulla Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.95\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Incisor Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.96\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Incisor\u0026ndash;Coronoid Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e41.67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Incisor\u0026ndash;Condyle Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48.67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Incisor\u0026ndash;Angular process Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48.72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMandibular Height\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRamus to Molar Height\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Molar Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower Molar to Incisor Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-conservation","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Conservation](https://link.springer.com/journal/44353)","snPcode":"44353","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44353/3","title":"Discover Conservation","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Petaurista yunnanensis, Mitrochondrial DNA, phylogenetic analysis, Cranio-dental, Wildlife forensic","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe present study conducted as part of a forensic investigation following an integrated taxonomy approach provides novel genetic evidence of occurrence of the Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel \u003cem\u003ePetaurista yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e from India. We sequenced two mitochondrial genes (Cyt\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e and 16S rRNA) that showed\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;96. % sequence similarity and lowest genetic distance (0.040) with \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e. The Bayesian based phylogenetic analysis revealed paraphy and ~\u0026thinsp;2.19\u0026nbsp;million years\u0026rsquo; divergence with \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e indicating the occurrence of a distinct phylogenetic lineage. The morphological examination of pelage and crani0-dental features also coincided with the genetic inferences. The principal component analysis based on 25 cranial measurements across eight \u003cem\u003ePetaurista\u003c/em\u003e species showed that the studied specimen showed a close morphometric affinity with \u003cem\u003eP. albiventer\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. philippensis\u003c/em\u003e. The present study underscores the role of wildlife forensics in investigating illegal trade involving lesser-known taxa and suggests the possible occurrence of \u003cem\u003eP. yunnanensis\u003c/em\u003e in India, as evidenced by its seizure in a village area. This study also highlights.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Integrated wildlife forensics and systematics identified first evidence of occurrence of Yunnan Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista yunnanensis) from India – a case study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-24 16:15:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8440080/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-30T14:18:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-28T06:27:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-24T13:34:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-21T07:59:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-17T08:31:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"300637149196065253217017371506507081497","date":"2026-03-16T10:42:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"339908102156350118202489356952258717016","date":"2026-03-12T12:54:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"301139384269924902067698875767470131169","date":"2026-03-08T23:45:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"264119732962817637861844094802292474282","date":"2026-03-08T22:51:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"214474566048858692880940431688226860137","date":"2026-03-07T02:32:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-19T13:21:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"338843474707726818798938663576129679845","date":"2026-02-19T08:15:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-19T05:27:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-29T13:51:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-16T18:37:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-01-14T05:18:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Conservation","date":"2026-01-14T05:11:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-conservation","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Conservation](https://link.springer.com/journal/44353)","snPcode":"44353","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44353/3","title":"Discover Conservation","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2058c1ab-2d76-4298-ac60-07b475f2aee7","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 24th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-24T17:09:12+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-24 16:15:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8440080","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8440080","identity":"rs-8440080","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}