Colugos

There are only two species of colugos — the Sunda and the Philippine colugos. Although also called “flying lemurs”, that name is misleading. They do not fly, they glide. Although closely-related, they are not actually lemurs, or primates. With colugos, it seems like Mother Nature created a mash-up of flying squirrels and lemurs. In fact, rodents, colugos, and primates do share a common ancestor.

Colugos live in southeast Asia. One colony frequents the campgrounds at the National Park in the Thailand’s Surin Islands. Colugos have wide flaps of skin between their legs. The name of the colugo Order Dermoptera actually means “skin wings”. They spread out their arms and legs to stretch out those flaps of skin and to glide between trees, losing altitude as they travel. They can glide over 200 feet. After latching onto a new tree, the colugo climbs back up the trunk. They feed on vegetation exclusively.