Suddenly the eyes disappeared. They re so quick and quiet you can t tell. Coasting low and slow, the Japanese giant flying squirrel was recorded gliding for nearly 160 feet. Flying squirrels vary anatomically, he explained. All have a small membrane between the neck and forelimbs, and this seems related to how they glide.
Larger ones have a membrane between the hind legs.
The smaller animals don t have this, but they do have featherlike tails. These questions brought Stafford and Thorington to the wind tunnel and into collaboration with its director, Jewel Barlow, and research manager, Robert Ranzenbach. I got a tour of this remarkable device with Barlow. We entered a vast room with tilting walls. With no parallel sides or right angles, the facility makes for odd optical illusions.