Black flying squirrel
Aeromys tephromelas (Günther, 1873)
The black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas) is a species in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 1.08 kg to 1.19 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Data Deficient.
Quick facts about the black flying squirrel
- Weight
- 1.08 kg – 1.19 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.04src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black flying squirrel live?
Not recorded
What is the black flying squirrel?
The black flying squirrel or large black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia; its habitat is primary and secondary forests and gardens where it uses tree hollows. It feeds on fruits, nuts and other vegetable matter. It is likely not threatened and is adaptable to habitat loss. Black flying squirrels tend to have smaller populations than other squirrels because female black flying squirrels breed infrequently and have a small litter size of just one young.
From the Wikipedia article “Black flying squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_flying_squirrel&oldid=1364139798), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black flying squirrel endangered?
The black flying squirrel is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List: it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Data Deficient species.
How is the black flying squirrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familySciuridae
- genusAeromys
- SpeciesAeromys tephromelas (Günther, 1873)
Synonyms Pteromys tephromelas
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- Large black flying squirrelEnglish
- Large black flying squirrelEnglish
- poletucha černáCzech
- Schwarzes GleithörnchenGerman
- Großes Schwarzes GleithörnchenGerman
- Ardilla voladora negraSpanish
- mustaisoliituriFinnish
- クロムササビJapanese
- 큰검은날다람쥐Korean
- SvartflygeekornNorwegian Bokmål
- wiewiórolot czarnyPolish
- Чёрная летягаRussian
- พญากระรอกบินสีดำThai
Relatives of the black flying squirrel
Other species in the same genus Aeromys.
Thomas's flying squirrel
Aeromys thomasi
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black flying squirrel?
An adult black flying squirrel weighs 1.08 kg – 1.19 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the black flying squirrel endangered?
The black flying squirrel is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, meaning it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
What kind of animal is the black flying squirrel?
The black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas) belongs to the family Sciuridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-flying-squirrel
“Black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-flying-squirrel.
@misc{black_flying_squirrel_2026,
title = {Black flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-flying-squirrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}