# Colugo — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Galeopterus variegatus (Audebert, 1799) — order Dermoptera*

> The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a nocturnal gliding mammal of Borneo and Sumatra with the most extensive gliding membrane of any mammal; it is not a lemur and cannot fly, and its closest living relatives are primates.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern — but forest conversion across Sundaland removes gliding habitat  ·  **WARN range:** Borneo, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula and nearby islands

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Head and body | About 34–38 cm |
| Glide | Up to ~70 m between trees |
| Activity | Nocturnal |
| Diet | Leaves, buds and fruit |
| IUCN status | Least Concern |
| Main threats | Oil palm, pulpwood and mining-driven forest loss |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Dermoptera
- **Family:** Cynocephalidae
- **Genus:** Galeopterus
- **Species:** Galeopterus variegatus

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Least Concern
- **Population:** No reliable estimate
- **Trend:** Decreasing in converted areas
- **Assessed:** 2016
- **CITES:** Not listed
- Wide range masks local loss as gliding connectivity breaks across converted lowland forest.

## Key facts: Colugo
- Colugos are not lemurs and do not fly — they glide on a skin membrane more extensive than any other mammal's.
- The Sunda colugo belongs to the order Dermoptera, whose closest living relatives are primates, not flying squirrels or lemurs.
- Glides of up to 70 metres or more connect forest trees; gaps from logging, oil palm or roads strand animals that cannot climb down and walk far.
- They are nocturnal folivores — leaf eaters — with slow digestion and low metabolic rates, like many canopy specialists.
- Females carry young in a pouch-like membrane fold rather than a true marsupial pouch.
- Compare with WARN's sugar glider guide for a marsupial glider, and the lemur guide for the true lemurs colugos are often mistaken for.

## Neither flies nor lemurs
The name flying lemur is a double mislabel. Powered flight requires musculature and anatomy colugos do not possess; they launch from a height and glide downward, steering with limbs and tail. A sugar glider — covered in WARN's sugar glider guide — solves the same problem with a smaller membrane and a marsupial's ancestry. Flying squirrels do it with a rodent's body plan. Colugos arrived at gliding independently, with a patagium that wraps further around the body than either.

Lemurs are strepsirrhine primates of Madagascar. Colugos are not primates at all, though genetic work places Dermoptera as the sister group to primates — closer to monkeys and apes than to bats or rodents. The large eyes and vertical clinging posture echo lemurs because nocturnal arboreal life produces similar silhouettes, not because of shared descent.

## The gliding membrane
The colugo's patagium connects the neck, all four limbs and the tail tip in one continuous sheet. When spread, it creates an aerofoil that can sustain glides of seventy metres or more between trees, with some reports of longer distances on a steep gradient.

Launch is from a vertical trunk or branch, usually at night when the animal moves to feed. Landing targets another trunk, which the colugo strikes feet-first and immediately grips. The skill is precise, but it requires forest — continuous canopy at gliding height. A cleared strip for a plantation road or a mine haul route breaks the chain. An animal on the wrong side cannot regain altitude and is vulnerable on the ground.

## Forest loss on Borneo and Sumatra
Sunda colugos occupy lowland and hill forest across Sundaland — the same forest being converted for oil palm and pulpwood at rates that lead global deforestation statistics. They tolerate some edge habitat better than large carnivores, but gliding connectivity is not the same as presence in a fragment. A colugo in a small patch may survive until the patch shrinks below gliding distance to the next tree.

Mining concessions and infrastructure cut additional corridors through remaining forest. Wildlife trade is not the primary pressure on colugos — they are not a commercial target — but the conversion economy that drives Sundaland's land use removes their habitat directly. Least Concern on the Red List reflects a still-wide range, not security in any given province.

## Primates, gliders and convergent solutions
Evolution produced gliding mammals several times — squirrels, possums, colugos — each with a membrane and a launch strategy suited to its ancestry. Colugos represent the primate-adjacent solution: a slow nocturnal folivore that crosses gaps without descending. Primates including gibbons and siamang cross gaps by brachiation; colugos bypass the ground entirely in a different way.

Understanding colugos clarifies why 'flying lemur' confuses searchers. WARN's lemur guide covers Madagascar's strepsirrhines; the sugar glider guide covers a marsupial glider people compare with colugos. None of those pages describes this animal — which is why a dedicated guide matters for a species that is common in name but rare in accurate explanation.

## What WARN does
WARN publishes free, sourced species education that separates common names from biology. Colugos are searched as flying lemurs and compared with sugar gliders; both comparisons miss what they actually are — gliding relatives of the primate line on forests being cleared for oil palm and pulpwood.

If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.

## Frequently asked questions: Colugo
### Is a colugo a lemur?
No. Colugos belong to the order Dermoptera. Lemurs are primates of Madagascar. The name flying lemur is misleading — they are not lemurs and do not fly.

### Can colugos fly?
No. They glide on a skin membrane from tree to tree, losing height with each glide. They cannot gain altitude under their own power.

### What are colugos related to?
Genetic studies place colugos as the closest living relatives of primates — closer to monkeys and apes than to bats, rodents or lemurs.

### How far can a colugo glide?
Typically up to about 70 metres between trees, sometimes farther on a steep slope. Continuous canopy is essential.

### Where do Sunda colugos live?
Lowland and hill forest on Borneo, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and nearby islands. Forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood is the main habitat pressure.

### What do sunda colugo / malayan flying lemurs eat?
Sunda Colugo / Malayan Flying Lemurs eat Leaves, buds and fruit. The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a nocturnal gliding mammal of Borneo and Sumatra with the most extensive gliding membrane of any mammal; it is not a lemur and cannot fly, and its closest living relatives are primates.

### Are sunda colugo / malayan flying lemurs dangerous?
Sunda Colugo / Malayan Flying Lemurs are not generally dangerous to people. The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a nocturnal gliding mammal of Borneo and Sumatra with the most extensive gliding membrane of any mammal; it is not a lemur and cannot fly, and its closest living relatives are primates. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

### How long do sunda colugo / malayan flying lemurs live?
A precise wild lifespan for sunda colugo / malayan flying lemurs is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a nocturnal gliding mammal of Borneo and Sumatra with the most extensive gliding membrane of any mammal; it is not a lemur and cannot fly, and its closest living relatives are primates. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

### How big is a sunda colugo / malayan flying lemur?
A Sunda Colugo / Malayan Flying Lemur is about About 34–38 cm. The Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) is a nocturnal gliding mammal of Borneo and Sumatra with the most extensive gliding membrane of any mammal; it is not a lemur and cannot fly, and its closest living relatives are primates. Conservation status: Least Concern.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Galeopterus variegatus](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/87781269/115164405)
- [Animal Diversity Web — Galeopterus variegatus](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Galeopterus_variegatus/)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/colugo