What is a colugo or flying lemur?

What animal is hanging from this branch?

It is a colugo! Colugos live in the forests of Southeast Asia. They are smaller than a typical house cat. Colugos live in the trees. They eat leaves, shoots, sap, flowers, and fruit. Colugos have large eyes that are adapted for night vision. At night, colugos travel through the forest and feed. During the daytime, colugos take shelter in tree holes.

Colugos are sometimes called flying lemurs, and there are two types: the Sunda flying lemur and the Philippine flying lemur.

The name flying lemur is misleading. Colugos are not lemurs. Lemurs are a group of primates that live in Madagascar. Humans are primates too. And while they may not be lemurs, scientists have found evidence that colugos are the closest relatives of primates on the tree of life. Hello, cousins!

Colugos don’t move by flying, but they do glide. With the aid of a membrane called a patagium, colugos can glide incredible distances of 200 feet or more, sailing from tree to tree. But unlike birds or bats, colugos can’t move by powered flight. They have no wings to flap.

This picture of a colugo gliding shows how the fold of skin that makes up the patagium can stretch out.

This video shows colugo gliding in action.

Not only is the patagium useful for gliding, this stretchy fold of skin is also a safe spot for a baby colugo. Newborn colugos are very small and not well developed, similar to baby marsupials. Baby colugos cling to their moms tummies while they grow bigger and stronger. When mom is not gliding, she can wrap her baby up in a nice warm patagium blanket. It looks snug and cozy in there.

Colugos have incisors that are shaped like little combs. Cool! Incisors are teeth at the front of the mouth in mammals. You have them too. Colugos may use these unique comb-shaped teeth for feeding and also for grooming their fur to remove parasites.

Because they are secretive during the day and active at night, colugos are hard for scientists to study. That means there is still more to discover about our gliding distant cousins.

Colugo Day for kids

International Colugo Day is celebrated on 15 September each year. Colugo Day events aim to raise awareness about these cool animals and the importance of protecting their forest homes.

If you are lucky to live near colugos, raising awareness and protecting their habitat is one way you can help these animals.

If you live far from colugos, no worries! You could do a research project on colugos, make a poster, or create some awesome colugo artwork.