Otherwise known as the flying lemur, the colugo glides between the trees of the Southeast Asian rainforest. It has a loose flap of skin that stretches between its neck, fingers, toes and tail. Even the spaces between its fingers and toes are webbed to increase its total surface area. Looking like a kite, it sails through the air for distances of more than 100 metres (over 300 feet) losing very little height. Sometimes a mother carries its young clinging to its belly on the flight.

Climbing

Almost completely helpless on the ground, the colugo will wrap itself in its "cloak", its kite-shaped skin, called a patagium, and haul itself back up to the tops of the trees using its sharp claws. It is a clumsy, but effective, climber. Lacking thumbs for holding branches, it grips on to the bark of trees with its small, sharp claws and pulls itself upwards in slow hops.

Lifestyle

Colugos are shy, nocturnal, inhabitants of the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. Much about their lifestyle remains unknown. They are herbivores, eating mostly leaves, shoots, flowers and fruit, although their teeth more closely resemble those of a carnivore.

Although they are placental mammals, colugos are marsupial-like in some ways. The one or two newborn are tiny and undeveloped, and spend their first six months clinging to their mother's bellies. To carry them in safety, the mother wraps her infants in a pouch made from her skin flaps.