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Text and photos by Nick Baker, unless otherwise stated

 EcologyAsia 2008
Copyright ©
 
 
     

 

 
   
Colugo or Flying Lemur
   

Greyish adult, probably female, in typical daytime resting posture.  Bukit Tinggi, Singapore.


Reddish adult, probably male, active at night. 
Central Catchment Forest, Singapore.
 

Juvenile peering from beneath its parents body.
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore


Juvenile. Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Singapore

 

Colugos are mammals from an ancient lineage, with just two species comprising the Order Dermoptera. Confusingly they are also called 'Flying Lemurs', though they are not closely related to the Lemurs of Madagascar. They can glide long distances, however, as they possess a thin membrane stretched to the ends of the tail and each limb.

Generally they are mottled grey or green-grey in colour, with dark banding, but some specimens are reddish. Their diet includes leaves and young shoots. During the day they rest high in the trees, clinging to trunks or hiding in tree holes. At dusk they become active, gliding from trunk to trunk like sheets of paper blown on the wind. The young are carried clinging to the flight membrane.
   
 
 

Adult Colugo, Poring Hot Springs, Sabah, Borneo.
 

Colugos range from Burma, Indochina and Southern Thailand to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. They also occur throughout Borneo. A second Colugo species inhabits the southern Philippines. 
 

Order : DERMOPTERA
Family : Cynocephalidae
Species : Cynocephalus variegatus

Head-Body Length : 34-38cm
Tail Length : 24-25cm
Weight : 0.9-1.3 kg

References : M2

Link :
Gliding mammal linked to humans
BBC News, 02 Nov '07