It is hard to guess what a Northern flying squirrel weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) on average weights 138 grams (0.3 lbs).
The Northern flying squirrel is from the family Sciuridae (genus: Glaucomys). It is usually born with about 5 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 13 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 16.1 cm (0′ 7″). On average, Northern flying squirrels can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 3.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) is one of three species of the genus Glaucomys, the only flying squirrels found in North America. They are found in coniferous and mixed coniferous forests across much of Canada, from Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to the mountains of North Carolina and west to Utah, Washington, and Oregon in the United States. They are light brown with pale underparts and grow to a length of 25 to 37 cm (10 to 15 in). They are proficient gliders but clumsy walkers on the ground. They feed on a variety of plant material as well as tree sap, fungi, insects, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings. They mostly breed once a year in a cavity lined with lichen or other soft material. Except when they have young, they change nests frequently, and in winter a number of individuals may huddle together in a shared nest. Unlike most members of their family, flying squirrels are strictly nocturnal.
Animals of the same family as a Northern flying squirrel
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Busuanga squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Speckled ground squirrel with a weight of 252 grams
- Siskiyou chipmunk with a weight of 75 grams
- Red giant flying squirrel bringing 1.54 kilos (3.4 lbs) to the scale
- Hagen’s flying squirrel with a size of 24.8 cm (0′ 10″)
- Yellow ground squirrel with a weight of 779 grams
- Palawan flying squirrel with a size of 22 cm (0′ 9″)
- Yellow-bellied marmot bringing 3.71 kilos (8.18 lbs) to the scale
- Grizzled giant squirrel bringing 1.33 kilos (2.93 lbs) to the scale
- Culion tree squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
Animals with the same weight as a Northern flying squirrel
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Glaucomys sabrinus:
- Middle East blind mole-rat bringing 164 grams to the scale
- Bornean mountain ground squirrel bringing 130 grams to the scale
- Edible dormouse bringing 128 grams to the scale
- Greater fairy armadillo bringing 129 grams to the scale
- Yellow-haired hill rat bringing 111 grams to the scale
- Madras treeshrew bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Mountain degu bringing 154 grams to the scale
- Broad-toothed mouse bringing 129 grams to the scale
- Bush rat bringing 124 grams to the scale
- Jungle palm squirrel bringing 135 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Northern flying squirrel
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Northern flying squirrel:
- Pygmy marmoset with a size of 15.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Slender treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Northern pika with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Long-footed treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- American red squirrel with a size of 18.8 cm (0′ 8″)
- Hainan gymnure with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Masked flying fox with a size of 13.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Eastern rat with a size of 17.3 cm (0′ 7″)
- Bougainville mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Small Japanese mole with a size of 14 cm (0′ 6″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Northern flying squirrel
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Northern flying squirrel:
- Aztec mouse
- Royle’s pika
- Fulvous harvest mouse
- Thylacine
- Middle East blind mole-rat
- Southern big-eared mouse
- Mountain spiny pocket mouse
- Chiriqui brown mouse
- Hispid pocket mouse
- East African highland shrew
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Northern flying squirrel
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Northern flying squirrel:
- Water chevrotain with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Red squirrel with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Banded mongoose with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Coquerel’s giant mouse lemur with an average maximal age of 15.25 years
- Pampas fox with an average maximal age of 13.67 years
- Arctocephalus forsteri with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Long-tailed goral with an average maximal age of 13.17 years
- Tammar wallaby with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Mexican free-tailed bat with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Heterohyrax antineae with an average maximal age of 12 years