Fast Fauna Facts #21 - Derby's Anomalure (Anomalurus derbianus)

Family: Anomalure Family (Anomaluridae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Tree-dwelling nocturnal rodents capable of gliding considerable distances using a membrane of skin between their limbs, anomalures like the Derby's Anomalure are similar in many ways to flying squirrels but can be distinguished from any true squirrel by their longer rat-like heads and the set of rough scales on the underside of their tails, which are believed to aid them in gripping to the trunks and branches of trees. Among the most common and widely distributed species in its rarely-spotted family, the Derby's Anomalure can be found across much of tropical mainland Africa where it inhabits rainforest canopies, resting in tree holes during the day and emerging at night to feed on bark, fruit, leaves and seeds.

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Image Source: Here

Gliding locomotion has evolved several different times in mammaliaforms. Among living mammals, well-developed gliding has arisen independently in the genera Acrobates and Petaurus among marsupials, the colugos among archontans, and the flying squirrels among rodents. [...] What is less frequently appreciated, however, is that there exists a second group of gliding rodents restricted to the forests of central Africa, where there are no flying squirrels to be found. These poorly known gliders are the anomalures.