Idiurus macrotis Miller 1898
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Anomaluridae
Idiurus
Idiurus macrotis

description: 5.
Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure
Idiurus macrotis
French: Anomalure a oreilles longues / German: GroRRohr-Gleitbilch / Spanish: Anomaluro de orejas grandes
Other common names: Long-eared Flying Squirrel, Long-eared Scaly-tailed Flying Squirrel
Taxonomy. Idiurus macrotis Miller, 1898,
“Efulen, Cameroon district, West Africa.”
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. W & C Africa, distribution disjunct, recorded from Sierra Leone to W Ghana, from SE Nigeria to N Gabon, and in NE DR Congo to Ituri Forest; also historical records from W of Lake Victoria in W Tanzania. It may be more continuously distributed throughoutits range than currently recorded.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 70-120 mm, tail 130-190 mm; weight 23-35 g. The Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure is a very small anomalure thatis slightly more robustly build than Zenker’s Pygmy Anomalure (1. zenkeri). It is pale gray with a brownish sheen on upper surface and paler on under surface. Hairs are blackish-gray at the base. Ears and face are somewhat longer than those of Zenker’s Pygmy Anomalure; tail is proportionately shorter, with similar short,stiff hairs on underside. Dense, short fur covers the rest of the tail of the Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure.
Habitat. [Lowland and mid-elevation tropical rainforest but might also be found in dense woodland.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure appears to be mainly frugivorous but probably eats sap. Captive individuals readily eat palm nuts.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. Long-eared Pygmy Anomalures are nocturnal. During the day, they sleep in large hollow trees in deciduous forests during the day. They typically emerge to commence between 18:15 h and 19:00 h and continue until 06:00 h in the morning.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure is gregarious. Groups of 6-10 individuals have been recorded in Sierra Leone, while groups up to 40 individuals have been seen in Gabon. Hollows of Long-eared Pygmy Anomalures are used by other species of anomalures including Beecroft’s Anomalure (Anomalurus beecrofti), Lord Derby’s Anomalure (A. derbianus), Pel’s Anomalure (A. pelii), Zenker’s Pygmy Anomalure, or other species such as bats. A translocated male Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure was radio-tracked during 48 hours and found to travel 790 m per night. In 1998, C. Julliott and colleagues found densities of 164-437 ind/km?*. Glides of the Longeared have were described by G. Durrell in 1954 as launching from the tree “without any apparent effort at jumping; one minute they were clinging spreadeagled to the bark, the next they were in the air. Their tiny legs were stretched out, and the membranes along their sides were taut. They swooped and drifted through the tumbling clouds of smoke with all the assurance and skill of hawking swallows, twisting and banking with incredible skill and apparently little or no movement of the body... I saw one leave the trunk of the tree at a height of about thirty feet. He glided across the dell in a straight and steady swoop, and landed on a tree about a hundred and fifty feet away, losing little if any height in the process.” Durrell also observed individuals gliding in a series of diminishing spirals and landing on a tree trunk lower down.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Overall distribution of the Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure is similar to that of Zenker’s Pygmy Anomalure in eastern parts of their distributions, but according to T. Haltenorth and H. Diller in 1977, the Long-eared Pygmy Anomalure is rarer. Nevertheless,it is widespread and appears to have no major conservation threats, although deforestation occurs in parts of its distribution.
Bibliography. Allen (1922), Durrell (1954), Grubb et al. (1998), Haltenorth & Diller (1977), Jackson & Schouten (2012), Jackson & Thorington (2012), Julliot et al. (1998), Kingdon (1997), Schunke (2005), Schunke & Hutterer (2001, 2007), Stafford & Thorington (2013a).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Anomaluridae, pp. 270-279 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 278-279, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6584330