Previous common names for this species included flightless scaly-tail 'squirrel', but this is a misnomer as anomalures are very distantly related to the true squirrels of the rodent family Sciuridae and only superficially resemble them.

[6] Among mammals, very few species are the sole survivors of such ancient lineages, some other examples being the pen-tailed treeshrew and the monito del monte.

Phylogenetic analysis using combined DNA and anatomical data place Zenkerella as the sister taxon of an Idiurus-Anomalurus clade.

[6] These results were used to justify a taxonomic revision that erected the new rodent family Zenkerellidae in which Z. insignis is the only living species.

[6] The anomalures, including Z. insignis, are unique among rodents in having a set of scales on the ventral surface of the base of the tail.

[6] Gliding is a relatively rare adaptation that has independently evolved in three lineages of extant placental mammals (anomalures, colugos, and flying squirrels).

[6][9][13] The fossilized molars of Z. wintoni and P. saharaensis also have these features and the lineage's tooth morphology is essentially unchanged since the early Oligocene.

[6][9] In mammals, dental morphology is an excellent indicator of the animal's diet; it therefore seems that the lineage has retained the same dietary niche for at least 31 million years.

[14] Without direct scientific observation, lifestyle and diet are largely inferred from what is known of other anomalures[3][4] and anecdotal information gathered by interviewing local people and subsistence trappers.