Flying Monkeys

Bats belong to the order of Chiroptera, which means "hand-wing". But did you know that there is also an order by the name of Dermoptera, "skin-wing"? (Think of the suffix "opter" and you'll get a clue as to how the helicopter was named). There are only two critters in this little order. Here's one of them.

The Homely Halls of Ugly Overload would like to welcome the Colugo. Morgan, who is studying biology in Paris on a level that would make my head spin, informed me (and by extension, you) that recent molecular tests have shown the colugo to be the next of kin to primates, which bumps the shrews and their ilk to third place.

Photo source: memenest.com


























The colugo is a native of Malaysia, and is also known as the Malaysian flying lemur. But, much like Voltaire's assertion that the Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire, the Malaysian flying lemur is neither flying nor a lemur (though it is Malaysian). These arboreal mammals, which are about the size of a house cat, have flaps of skin along their sides that allow them to glide, some times as far as 200 feet. These flaps of skin are how the colugo earned its way into the exclusive club of Dermoptera (the only other member is a resident of the Phillipines).

The colugo is the closest thing we have to the dreaded flying monkeys of The Wizard of Oz fame (oh, the nightmares those things gave me as a youth). But fear not, these creatures are awkward fliers, awkward climbers, and awkward crawlers, and they only eat leaves, shoots, and fruit. That being said, I'm sure some creative witch could put them to some nefarious use, so don't rest too easy.

Thanks for the skin-wing, Morgan.

Photo source: memenest.com