Counting Colugos

The Colugo is back again, this time with two more species than previously thought.

The colugo is the closest thing the earth has to a flying monkey. 'Gliding almost-primate" doesn't have the same ring to it, so flying monkey it is. They can glide up to 450 across the tree canopy. Here's a shot of one doing so. I don't think the colugo appreciates being photographed from below, though you get a good idea of why they are called 'dermopterans' (dermo=skin, ptera=wing).

Photo source: Norman Lim via LiveScience.com





















Until recently, the scientific community had credited the colugos with only two species. But recent genetic tests have revealed that what was once assumed to be a single species was actually three. Now there are four species of colugo.

See what happens when you assume? You end up shorting the nearest relative we primates have by half of their total species count. Is that any way to treat family?

Thanks for the article, Ida.