Wild Facts

Photo by Nick Garbutt at naturepl.com

Since it is the last day of the work week (for me anyways!) I thought I would entertain all of us by talking about a very odd animal.  Maybe I should make every Friday known as “Freaky Friday”.  Today’s animal is called a Colugo but is also known as the Flying Lemur.  Unfortunately there are two things wrong with this name.  First the Colugo does not actually fly and secondly it is not a Lemur.  I swear the people that make up names need to do a little more research.  You can’t just go picking names for animals at the drop of a hat!

So if this bizarre animal isn’t a lemur then what the heck is it? Well that is a good question.  They are actually a mammal from an ancient lineage which only has two species making up the entire Dermoptera Order.  To put this in perspective the Primate Order has roughly 394 species and this isn’t the most abundant order of animals. Basically, this just goes to show that the Colugo is an unique animal on this earth.

The Colugo is usually a mottled grey or green-grey colour and contains dark bands.  They are not very large as they only weigh about 1-2 kg (2.2 – 4.4 lbs) and can get up to 40 cm (16″) long.  They are often called Flying lemurs since they contain a very large gliding membrane, similar to a flying squirrel, which allows them to glide long distances between trees.  This gliding membrane is impressive as it runs from the Colugo’s shoulder to their fore-paw and continues to extend from their finger tips to their toes and finally runs from their hind legs to the tip of their tail.  Essentially, this membrane is a large as Colugolly possible.  How about that, I just made up a word, I am going to be famous! Just so you know this membrane is pretty effective since the “Flying Lemur” can glide up to 70 m (230′).  That is very impressive!

Photo by Norman Lim, National University of Singapore

Colugo Fast Fact – Although the Colugo is a tree dwelling animal they are actually awkward climbers. They are not very strong and don’t have an opposable thumb so it makes climbing difficult for them.  The Colugo will make its way up the tree using slow hops and gripping onto the bark with their short, sharp claws.

That does it for the Freaky Friday Wild Fact!  Have a great weekend!