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| Petaurista tetyukhensis Tiunov & Gimranov, 2019
Petaurista leucogenys Temminck, 1827
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Abstract
For the first time in the south of the Russian Far East in the Late Pleistocene cave deposits, fragments of the giant flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista were discovered. Petaurista tetyukhensis n. sp. is described based on a fragment of the upper jaw with two teeth and five isolated teeth from two cave locations. The main differences between the new species and living forms as well as other fossil species of the genus Petaurista are the absence of vertical groove on the lingual wall between the protocone and hypocone on M2, the absence of the anterior cross loph on the upper P4-M3, and the absence of mesoconids on lower, as a result of which the hypoflexid is not w-shaped. It is suggested that the Sikhote-Alin refugium allowed individual species to survive there during long unfavourable period of time and was the centre of speciation.
Keywords: New species, Giant flying squirrels, Late Pleistocene, Refugium, Sikhote-Alin
Systematic palaeontology
Class Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758
Order Rodentia Bowdich, 1821
Family Sciuridae Hemprich, 1820
Subfamily Sciurinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Tribe Pteromyini Brandt, 1855
Genus Petaurista Link, 1795
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| Occlusal view of RPRV–TetC–01, the fragmentary maxillae of Petaurista tetyukhensis n. sp., holotype. |
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| Upper and lower cheek teeth of Petaurista tetyukhensis n. sp. |
Petaurista tetyukhensis n. sp.
Etymology: The species is named after type locality. The old name of Dalnegorsk Town (Tetyukhe) is used.
Mikhail P. Tiunov and Dmitryi O. Gimranov. 2019. The First Fossil Petaurista (Mammalia: Sciuridae) from the Russian Far East and Its Paleogeographic Significance. Palaeoworld. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.palwor.2019.05.007
New species of a giant flying squirrel discovered in the Far East of Russia
