How big does a Northern flying squirrel get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) reaches an average size of 16.1 cm (0′ 7″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 13 years, they grow from 5 grams (0.01 lbs) to 138 grams (0.3 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Northern flying squirrels have 3 babies about 1 times per year. The Northern flying squirrel (genus: Glaucomys) is a member of the family Sciuridae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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:
- Selangor pygmy flying squirrel with a size of 8.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Yellow-bellied marmot with a size of 41.2 cm (1′ 5″)
- Spotted ground squirrel with a size of 14.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mexican gray squirrel with a size of 25.2 cm (0′ 10″)
- Indian giant flying squirrel bringing 1.68 kilos (3.7 lbs) to the scale
- Grizzled giant squirrel with 3 babies per litter
- American red squirrel with a size of 18.8 cm (0′ 8″)
- Arizona gray squirrel with a size of 26.4 cm (0′ 11″)
- Caucasian squirrel with 4 babies per litter
- Himalayan striped squirrel with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
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:
- Little woolly mouse opossum with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Long-footed rat with a size of 15.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Javanese flying squirrel with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Rossel Island melomys with a size of 13.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mountain spiny rat with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Palawan treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Kowari with a size of 15.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Tate’s woolly mouse opossum with a size of 16.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Ladak pika with a size of 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Lady Burton’s rope squirrel with a size of 15.7 cm (0′ 7″)
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:
- Mazama pocket gopher
- Ring-tailed cat
- Blanford’s jerboa
- Monito del monte
- Graphiurus hueti
- Rusty-bellied brush-furred rat
- Pampas fox
- Rock vole
- Japanese shrew mole
- Sado mole
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Northern flying squirrel
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Northern flying squirrel:
- Eastern bettong with an average maximal age of 11.75 years
- Southern needle-clawed bushbaby with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Greater fairy armadillo with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Cave myotis with an average maximal age of 11.25 years
- Long-footed treeshrew with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Common duiker with an average maximal age of 14.25 years
- Weasel sportive lemur with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Microcebus coquereli with an average maximal age of 15.25 years
- PudĂș with an average maximal age of 12.5 years
- Small Indian civet with an average maximal age of 10.5 years
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:
- Black rat bringing 142 grams to the scale
- Hispid cotton rat bringing 111 grams to the scale
- European water vole bringing 120 grams to the scale
- Echigo mole bringing 163 grams to the scale
- Harris’s antelope squirrel bringing 127 grams to the scale
- Mountain degu bringing 154 grams to the scale
- Ihering’s three-striped opossum bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Tete veld aethomys bringing 133 grams to the scale
- Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum bringing 119 grams to the scale
- Narrow-striped marsupial shrew bringing 124 grams to the scale