Recently, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden unexpectedly discovered two Belomyspear-sonii in a rain forest ravine.

As the name suggests, Belo-myspearsonii, or ‘hairy-footed flying squirrels’, have a tuft of long hair on each ear. They are mainly found in small popula-tions living in the tropical and subtropical forests of South Chi-na and Southeast Asia. In 2008, they were included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since Belomyspearsonii are noc-turnal and live an elusive lives, the scientific community knows little about them.