author(s)
Manokaran Kamalakannan

abstract
The microscopic hair characteristics of three giant flying squirrel species namely, P. petaurista, P. magnificus and P. philippensis were examined using the optical light microscope at the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata during January–July 2016. The microscopic characteristics (cuticula and medulla) of hair of three species studied showed similar characteristics, however, the three species can be differentiated by their cross-section of hair viz., ‘oval’, ‘biconvex’ and ‘oblong’ in P. petaurista, P. magnificus and P. philippensis, respectively. The high-resolution photo-micrographs and key characteristics of hair were presented here can be used as an appropriate reference for species identification.