a knock turtle member of the squirrel

family searches for fun G its favorite

food but fun gr spread in random patches

throughout the forest and the squirrel

has to cover large distances to find

them so this squirrel has evolved a

special talent

it flies

the northern flying squirrel is just six

inches long and weighs the same as a

typical smartphone yet it can leap

almost 150 feet between trees

[Music]

it's wings allow it to glide through the

canopy flying squirrels are an

incredible piece of aeronautical

engineering

a large membrane stretches between their

wrists and ankles and another smaller

membrane runs between the ankles and

tail combined they form a parachute

[Music]

flying squirrels have the longest limbs

of all the squirrels to make their

parachute as large as possible a piece

of cartilage on the end of each wing

gives them an upturn tip this reduces

drag and increases stability

it's the reason many airplanes have

upturned tips on their wings to

the result is these incredibly long

leaps at speeds of up to 20 miles an

hour

allowing the squirrels to travel widely

through the forest

[Music]