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A preliminary survey on the diversity of gliding squirrels was conducted from September 2019 until February 2020 in several locations within Merapoh, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia using standard line transect method. The survey areas include a pristine forest, logged-over forest and agro-forested plantations. Gliding squirrels were spotted using a headlamp, binoculars (8x30 magnification) and a Digital SLR affixed with a telephoto lens (Nikon D500 + Nikkor 200-500 F5.6 VR) as they are mainly nocturnal. The highlight of this short survey was two new distributional records of flying squirrels for Merapoh Forest Complex. These two species were Spotted giant gliding squirrel (Petaurista elegans) and Temminck’s gliding squirrel (Petinomys setosus). Other gliding squirrels recorded in this survey include the Red Giant gliding squirrel (Petaurista petaurista), Horsfield’s gliding squirrel (Iomys horsfieldii) and Red-cheeked gliding squirrel (Hylopetes spadiceus). Apart from gliding squirrel, a total of eleven (11) species of other squirrels were also recorded within this survey. Continuous and systematic diversity surveys on gliding squirrels are needed as it is still understudied in Malaysia especially Merapoh.

Flying squirrels are poorly studied nocturnal mammals as their elusive and nocturnal behaviour makes it hard to observe them in the wild.  Here, we describe sightings of Petaurista petaurista on a limestone hill and its foot at Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia.  This is the first report as the species is usually known to inhabit forest habitat.  We observed the first squirrel resting on a steep limestone wall at night.  During subsequent nights, three individuals were observed feeding on Ficus hispida and Terminalia catappa fruits on the foot of the hill in nearby trees.  These sightings suggest that P. petaurista may use limestone hill habitat.

DNA isolation is one of the most crucial part in DNA analysis and is reflected by the abundance of ready-to-use DNA isolation kits available in the market. However, the chaotropic salts used in conventional kits during the binding step has been known to inhibit the downstream process of PCR and deteriorate when exposed to air. This study aims to design a better and faster DNA isolation process with better DNA isolation performance to replace the conventional one. This study aims to replace the chaotropic salt in binding buffer with organic acids or salt and improve the buffer used during the wash step. Sodium perchlorate and several other salts and acids were chosen as candidates for the binding buffer. Simultaneously, 10Mm NaCl and 10Mm Tris-Cl with varying concentrations of organic solvents were selected as candidates for the wash buffer. The performance of the selected buffers was then compared to the readily available commercial kit. Organic acid B was among the best candidates for binding buffer with 81.91% and 83.20% recovery rates. For wash buffer, it was observed that the DNA recovery increases with an increasing organic solvent concentration in 10Mm NaCl and 10Mm Tris-Cl. Wash buffer with 90% organic solvent shows the best compromise of DNA yield and purity compared to 70%, 80%, and 100% organic solvent concentration in 10Mm NaCl and 10Mm Tris-Cl. A combination of organic acid B in binding buffer and 90% organic solvent A in wash buffer were tested against a commercial DNA extraction kit. The combination of organic acid B and 90% organic solvent yielded 72.81 ng/ul compared to 28.46 ng/ul by the commercial kit. The combination of the binding buffer organic acid B and 90% organic solvent in 10Mm NaCl and 10Mm Tris-Cl can replace the current commercial kits without the problems posed by the presence of chaotropic salt.

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