Aeretes
Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Recent
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Tribe: Pteromyini
Genus: Aeretes
G. M. Allen, 1940
Species

Aeretes is a genus of squirrels that contains a single extant species, the groove-toothed flying squirrel (Aeretes melanopterus).

Two fossil species are also known from Late Pliocene of China.[1]

The earliest fossil record of Aeretes was found in South China in Middle Pleistocene deposits. In the Beijing area, the earliest records are from Upper Cave and Tianyuan Cave at Zhoukoudian. These fossils are of the Late Pleistocene age. The geographical distribution of this species are very limited. Aeretes experience evolution through the increase and decrease of tooth size throughout time. [2]

References

  1. Jackson, S.M.; Thorington Jr., R.W. (2012). "Gliding Mammals: Taxonomy of Living and Extinct Species". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (638): 1–117. doi:10.5479/SI.00810282.638.1. S2CID 84359706.
  2. Tong, Haowen (March–April 2007). "Aeretes melanopterus (Pteromyinae, Rodentia) from Tianyuan Cave near Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) in China". Geobios. 40 (2): 219–230. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2006.04.006 via Web of Science.


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