Flying squirrels carve nuts to store them securely in tree branches

Buried nuts would quickly rot in the tropical rainforests of Hainan Island, so flying squirrels have taught themselves carpentry instead

By Michael Le Page

Two species of flying squirrel living in the tropical rainforests of Hainan Island off China carve grooves around nuts so they can be wedged in the forks of twigs without falling out.

Suqin Fang at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China, says one one of these species may have learned the behaviour from watching the other, though this is hard to establish. …