The 'flying lemur' that glides two basketball courts between trees
This animal glides the length of two basketball courts without flapping a wing.
Which one is REALLY true about the Colugo?
The short version
The colugo, or 'flying lemur,' can neither fly nor is it a lemur. It has the most complete gliding membrane of any mammal — stretching from its neck to its fingertips, toes, and even the tip of its tail — letting it glide over 200 feet while barely losing height. Mothers fold the membrane into a hammock to carry their young.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Colugo glides more than two hundred feet between trees while barely losing any height.
- ✓The Colugo has the most complete gliding membrane of any mammal, running from its neck to its fingertips, its toes and even its tail tip.
- ✓The Colugo is called a flying lemur even though it cannot fly and is not a lemur.
- ✓The Colugo folds that membrane into a hammock so a mother can carry her baby along with her.
- ✓The Colugo has front teeth shaped like tiny combs that it uses to scrape sap and strain leaves.
You could line up about 3 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This animal can glide the length of two basketball courts without ever flapping a wing. Meet the colugo, often called a flying lemur, even though it cannot fly and is not a lemur. It has the most complete gliding membrane of any mammal on Earth, a huge sheet of skin that stretches from its neck all the way out to its fingertips, its toes, and even the very tip of its tail. When it leaps from a tree in the forests of Southeast Asia, that membrane opens like a kite, and it can glide more than two hundred feet while barely losing any height at all. A mother even folds the membrane into a hammock to carry her baby along with her. Its teeth are just as strange, shaped like tiny combs that it uses to scrape sap and strain leaves. But on the ground it is almost helpless, and can only clamber awkwardly. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Colugo glides more than two hundred feet between trees while barely losing any height.”
“The Colugo raises thin wedge-shaped mounds up to four metres tall.”
“The Colugo has the most complete gliding membrane of any mammal, running from its neck to its fingertips, its toes and even its tail tip.”