Travancore Flying Squirrel

This is a nocturnal, mainly fruit-eating flying squirrel, reddish brown above with ruddy-tinged greyish underparts, a feather-shaped tail with a blackish underside, black whiskers and soft, lustrous fur. Head and body are about 32 cm and the tail 25 to 29 cm. It also eats bark, shoots, leaves and sometimes insects (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occurs in the Western Ghats of southern India and in Sri Lanka, with a separate subspecies on the island. It was presumed extinct until rediscovered in Kerala in 1989, and was confirmed in Sri Lanka 78 years after the previous record. Recent Sri Lankan sightings are mostly in the wet and intermediate zones, especially Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Wikipedia, general species account). Nationally Endangered (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).