Flying squirrels can glide. They can float as much as 90 m (300 ft) between trees. Although they don’t really fly, these squirrels surprised scientists in another way. Flying squirrels glow pink at night. Bright pink! In North America, Northern, Southern, and Humboldt’s Flying Squirrels have been researched and found to be bioluminescent.

Experts at Northland College, the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Field Museum in Chicago were the first to investigate the phenomenon. Jon Martin, a forestry professor, was researching bioluminescent frogs, lichens, and fungi when he could not believe his eyes. Near his home, his UV flashlight picked up a squirrel raiding a bird feeder and it was glowing.

Although bioluminescence is a growing field in oceanography; few mammals were known to glow. Recently other than flying squirrels, wombats, and mice-like antechinus marsupials in Australia, hares in Africa, and opossums in North America.

Sources

Flying squirrels secretly glow pink, thanks to fluorescence. (2019, January 31). National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/flying-squirrels-fluorescent-secretly-glow-pink

When Mammals Glow in the Dark. (2021, April 5). The Nature Conservancy. https://blog.nature.org/2021/04/05/when-mammals-glow-in-the-dark/

Flying squirrel. (2025, January 9). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_squirrel

Flying Squirrels That Glow Pink in the Dark. (2019, February 1). The New York Times Company. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/science/pink-squirrels-glow.html

Bioluminescence.  (2018, April). Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/bioluminescence

Meet some of the most spectacular, and secretive, squirrels on Earth. (2021, April 14). Treehugger: Dotdash Meredith. https://www.treehugger.com/flying-squirrel-facts-4868784

Glowing Pink Flying Squirrels: Biofluorescence Revealed (2022, February 15). Lee Rentz.https://leerentz.wordpress.com/2022/02/15/glowing-pink-flying-squirrels-biofluorescence-revealed/