Sunda Colugo
The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a cat-sized gliding mammal of Southeast Asian forests. It is often called a flying lemur, but it is neither a lemur nor does it fly.
The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a cat-sized gliding mammal of Southeast Asian forests. It is often called a flying lemur, but it is neither a lemur nor does it fly.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Sunda Colugo in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Evolutionary lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
The Greatest Glider
A broad membrane stretches from the neck to the tips of the fingers, toes and tail, making the colugo the most efficient gliding mammal. It can glide more than 100 meters between trees while losing little height.
A Primate Cousin
Genetic studies place colugos as the closest living relatives of primates. They form the order Dermoptera and have comb-like lower incisors for scraping leaves.
Night Foragers
Colugos eat leaves, flowers and fruit at night and rest by day clinging to tree trunks, camouflaged by mottled fur. See Sugar Glider.
Sunda Colugo at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Galeopterus variegatus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Dermoptera |
| Family | Cynocephalidae |
| Field Guide group | Evolutionary Oddities (Unique & Disputed Lineages) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Nocturnal tree-dwelling glider of Southeast Asia with a furred patagium membrane stretched from neck to fingertips, toes, and tail tip, plus comb-like lower incisors. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2008 |
| Order | Dermoptera |
| Glide distance | More than 100 meters |