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32-493: The Philippine flying lemur or Philippine colugo ( Cynocephalus volans ), known locally as kagwang , is one of two species of colugo or "flying lemurs". It is monotypic of its genus. Although it is called "flying lemur", the Philippine flying lemur is neither a lemur nor does it fly. Instead, it glides as it leaps among trees. The kagwang belongs to the order Dermoptera that contains only two species, one of which

64-403: A Malayan colugo ( Galeopterus variegatus ) individual having been observed traveling about 150 m (490 ft) in one glide. Their ability to glide is possible because of a large membrane of skin that extends between their paired limbs. This gliding membrane, or patagium , runs from the shoulder blades to the fore paws, from the tip of the rear-most fingers to the tip of the toes, and from

96-788: A hammock-like pouch for its young. This membrane helps it glide distances of 100 m or more, useful for finding food and escaping predators, such as the Philippine eagle ( Pithecophaga jefferyi ) and tree-climbing snakes that try to attack the colugos when they glide between trees. The dental formula of the Philippine flying lemur is 2/3, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, with a total of 34 teeth. The first two lower procumbent incisors are pectinate with up to 15 tines, which are thought to be used for grooming and grating food. The upper incisors are small and have spaces between them, as well. The deciduous teeth are serrated until they are lost and then they are replaced with blade-like teeth that have evolved to shear along with

128-761: A medium-length tail, and a relatively light build. The head is small, with large, front-focused eyes for excellent binocular vision, and small rounded ears. The incisor teeth of colugos are highly distinctive; they are comb-like in shape with up to 20 tines on each tooth. The incisors are analogous in appearance and function to the incisor suite in strepsirrhines , which is used for grooming. The second upper incisors have two roots, another unique feature among mammals. The dental formula of colugos is: 2.1.2.3 3.1.2.3 Colugos are proficient gliders, and thought better adapted for flight than any other gliding mammal. They can travel as far as 70 m (230 ft) from one tree to another without losing much altitude, with

160-522: A nocturnal species, they developed night vision . Colugos spend their days resting in tree holes and are active at night time; traveling around 1.7 km at night. Colugos may also be a territorial species. Although they are placental mammals, colugos raise their young in a manner similar to marsupials . Newborn colugos are underdeveloped and weigh only 35 g (1.2 oz). They spend the first six months of life clinging to their mother's belly. The mother colugo curls her tail and folds her patagium into

192-566: A warm, secure, quasipouch to protect and transport her young. The young do not reach maturity until they are two to three years old. In captivity, they live up to 15 years, but their lifespan in the wild is unknown. Both species are threatened by habitat destruction , and the Philippine flying lemur was once classified by the IUCN as vulnerable. In 1996, the IUCN declared the species vulnerable owing to destruction of lowland forests and hunting. It

224-721: A warning or to get rid of the omen. The animal is largely unknown in many areas in the Philippines such that on Facebook , its image was once mistaken for a supernatural creature that was said to feed on other animals, though in reality, the endangered species is a folivore that feeds on fruits, flowers, and leaves. [REDACTED] Colugo Colugos ( / k ə ˈ l uː ɡ oʊ / ), flying lemurs , or cobegos ( / k ə ˈ b iː ɡ oʊ / ), are arboreal gliding euarchontogliran mammals that are native to Southeast Asia . Their closest evolutionary relatives are primates . There are just two living species of colugos:

256-431: Is arboreal and nocturnal , and usually resides in primary and secondary forests , but some wander into coconut , banana , and rubber plantations as deforestation for farming and industry is an increasingly prevalent problem. The colugo sleeps in hollow trees or clings onto branches in dense foliage during daytime. When they engage in this hanging behaviour from branches, they keep their heads upright, unlike bats. On

288-453: Is 17–27 cm (6.5–10.5 in). The species exhibits sexual dimorphism with females being somewhat larger than males. It has a wide head and rostrum with a robust mandible for increased bite strength, small ears, and big eyes with unique photoreceptor adaptations adapted for its nocturnal lifestyle. The large eyes allow for excellent vision, which the colugo uses to accurately jump and glide from tree to tree. It has an avascular retina which

320-405: Is a folivore , eating mainly young leaves and occasionally soft fruits, flowers, plant shoots, and insects. They also obtain a significant amount of their water from licking wet leaves and from the water in the plants and fruits themselves. Most of their nutrition is obtained by jumping and gliding between trees high in the canopy; rarely do they eat on the forest floor. The Philippine flying lemur

352-1141: Is an example of a flighted, folivorous bird. There are, however, many species of folivorous flying insects. Some bats are partially folivorous; their method of deriving nourishment from leaves, according to Lowry (1989), is to chew up the leaves, swallowing the sap and spitting out the remainder. Arboreal mammalian folivores, such as sloths , koalas , and some species of monkeys and lemurs , tend to be large and climb cautiously. Similarities in body shape and head- and tooth-structure between early hominoids and various families of arboreal folivores have been advanced as evidence that early hominoids were also folivorous. Standard ecological theory predicts relatively large group sizes for folivorous primates , as large groups offer better collective defense against predators and they face little competition for food among each other. It has been observed that these animals nevertheless frequently live in small groups. Explanations offered for this apparent paradox include social factors such as increased incidence of infanticide in large groups. Folivorous primates are relatively rare in

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384-460: Is estimated the ancestors of the colugos split from other mammals about 80 million years ago, leading to the present day forms that consist of 7 to 14 extant species. The Mixodectidae and Plagiomenidae appear to be fossil Dermoptera. Although other Paleogene mammals have been interpreted as related to dermopterans, the evidence for this association is uncertain and many of the fossils are no longer interpreted as being gliding mammals. At present,

416-700: Is found in the Philippines, while the other, the Sunda flying lemur , is found in Indonesia , Thailand , Malaysia , and Singapore . Recent research from genetic analysis suggests two other species, the Bornean flying lemur and the Javan flying lemur, may exist, as well, but they have yet to be officially classified. Both species of Dermoptera are classified under the grandorder Euarchonta , which includes treeshrews and primates , as well as an extinct order of mammals,

448-400: Is not typical of mammals, suggesting this is a primitive trait; on par with other nocturnal mammals, specifically nocturnal primates, the rod cells in the eye make up about 95–99% of the photoreceptors and cones make up about 1–5%. Its clawed feet are large and sharp with an incredible grip strength, allowing them to skillfully but slowly climb trees, hang from branches, or anchor themselves to

480-410: Is reached between two and three years of age. Mating usually occurs between January and March. The Philippine flying lemur is threatened by massive destruction of its forest habitat, owing partly to logging and the development of land for agriculture. It is a primary prey of the Philippine eagle making up to 90% of the eagle's diet. It is also hunted by humans for food. The IUCN 1996 had declared

512-613: The Plesiadapiformes . The Philippine flying lemur is endemic to the southern Philippines. Its population is concentrated in the Mindanao region and Bohol . It may also be found in Samar and Leyte . Colugos are found in heavily forested areas, living mainly high up in the trees in lowland and mountainous forests or sometimes in coconut and rubber plantations, rarely coming down to the ground. They spend most of their time at

544-478: The Sunda flying lemur ( Galeopterus variegatus ) and the Philippine flying lemur ( Cynocephalus volans ). These two species make up the entire family Cynocephalidae ( / ˌ s aɪ n oʊ ˌ s ɛ f ə ˈ l aɪ d i , - ˌ k ɛ -/ ) and order Dermoptera . Colugos are nocturnal, tree-dwelling mammals. They reach lengths of 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16 in) and weigh 1 to 2 kg (2.2 to 4.4 lb). They have long, slender front and rear limbs,

576-433: The Philippine flying lemur is unknown. Little is known about the reproductive behaviour in colugos. The female usually gives birth to one young after a two-month gestation period. The young is born undeveloped and helpless, and it attaches itself to its mother's belly, in a pouch formed from the mother's tail membrane. It is eventually weaned around 6 months old, and leaves its mother's patagium. Adult size and sexual maturity

608-500: The Primatomorpha. Scandentia (treeshrews) Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas) Rodentia (rodents) Dermoptera (colugos) † Plesiadapiformes Primates [REDACTED] Folivore It has been observed that folivory is extremely rare among flying vertebrates. Morton (1978) attributed this to the fact that leaves are heavy, slow to digest, and contain little energy relative to other foods. The hoatzin

640-401: The canopy and predatory birds that can attack from above. They live alone, but several may be seen in the same tree, where they maintain their distance from one another and are very territorial of their personal areas. Though they are not social mammals, they do engage in a unique semi-social behaviour where colugos living in the same relative area or tree follow each other's gliding paths through

672-592: The day resting. At night, colugos spend most of their time up in the trees foraging, with gliding being used to either find another foraging tree or to find possible mates and protect territory. Colugos are shy, nocturnal , solitary animals found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Consequently, very little is known about their behavior. They are herbivorous and eat leaves, shoots, flowers, sap, and fruit. They have well-developed stomachs and long intestines capable of extracting nutrients from leaves and other fibrous material. As part of Colugos' evolution into

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704-640: The fossil record of definitive dermopterans is limited to two species of the Eocene and Oligocene cynocephalid genus Dermotherium . Molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated that colugos emerged as a basal Primatomorpha clade – which, in turn, is a basal Euarchontoglires clade. Scandentia are widely considered to be the closest relatives of Primatomorpha, within Euarchonta . Some studies, however, place Scandentia as sister of Glires ( lagomorphs and rodents ), in an unnamed sister clade of

736-590: The ground, colugos are slow and clumsy, and not able to stand erect, so they rarely leave the canopy level of the forest, where they glide from tree to tree to get to food or their nests, which are also high in the trees. In the trees, though, colugos are quite effective climbers, though they are slow; they move in a series of lingering hops as they use their claws to move up the tree trunk. Foraging only at night, colugos on average forage for 9.4 minutes about 12 times per night. They typically leave their nests at dusk to begin their foraging activity. When foraging, returning to

768-457: The hind legs to the tip of the tail. The spaces between the colugo's fingers and toes are webbed. As a result, colugos were once considered to be close relatives of bats . Today, on account of genetic data, they are considered to be more closely related to primates . Colugos are unskilled climbers; they lack opposable thumbs. They progress up trees in a series of slow hops, gripping onto the bark with their small, sharp claws. They spend most of

800-499: The molars that also have long shearing crests to help break down the plant matter they ingest. Following mastication, the digestive tract of the Philippine flying lemur, especially the stomach, is specially adapted to break down and process the large amount of leaves and vegetation they ingest. Colugos also have a brownish grey-and-white pelage they use as camouflage amongst the tree trunks and branches, which allows them to better hide from predators and hunters. The Philippine flying lemur

832-528: The nest, or just moving around, the Philippine flying lemur uses its patagium to glide from tree to tree. The patagium is also used for cloaking the colugo when it is clinging to a tree trunk or branch, and sometimes it is even seen curled up in a ball, using its patagium again as a cloaking mechanism among palm fronds often in coconut plantations. Colugos maintain height in the trees to avoid predators that may live in lower levels, but they are still susceptible to other predators that can reach these higher levels of

864-481: The species include hunting by the farmers of the plantations they sometimes invade, where they are considered pests, since they eat fruits and flowers. In local cultures, their flesh is also consumed as a delicacy; other uses of the colugo vary in different regions of the Philippines. In Bohol, their fur is used as material for native hats, but in Samar, the species is considered a bad omen and is killed either to be used as

896-435: The species vulnerable owing to the destruction of lowland forests and to hunting, but it was listed as least concern in 2008. The 2008 IUCN report indicates the species persists in the face of degraded habitat, with its current population large enough to avoid the threatened category. Since colugos have limited dispersal abilities, they are increasingly vulnerable as deforestation is occurring at increasing rates. Other threats to

928-442: The top of the rainforest canopy or in the forest middle level. With their wide patagia and unopposable thumbs, Philippine flying lemurs are rather slow, clumsy climbers, ascending tree trunks in a series of slow lurches with their heads up and limbs spread to grasp the tree. A typical Philippine flying lemur weighs about 1.0 to 1.7 kg (2.2 to 3.7 lb) and its head-body length is 33–38 cm (13–15 in). Its tail length

960-424: The trees in search of food. This may be a defence mechanism, whereas a population, the safest route possible is determined and shared as a sort of cooperative mechanism for increased survival rates. The only time colugos actually live socially is after a mother has given birth; then she will care for and live with her offspring until they are weaned; at that point, the offspring are on their own. The average lifespan of

992-461: The trunk of a tree. One unique feature of the colugo is the patagium , the weblike membrane that connects its limbs to allow for gliding. Unlike other mammals with patagia, its patagium extends from the neck to the limbs, in between digits, and even behind the hind limbs and the tail. Its keeled sternum, which is also seen in bats, aids in its gliding efficiency. Its patagium is the most extensive membrane used for gliding in mammals and also functions as

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1024-562: Was downlisted to least-concern status in 2008 but still faces the same threats. In addition to the ongoing clearing of its rainforest habitat, it is hunted for its meat and fur. It is also a favorite prey item for the critically endangered Philippine eagle ; some studies suggest colugos account for 90% of the eagle's diet. Their family name Cynocephalidae comes from the Greek words κύων kyōn "dog" and κεφαλή kephalē "head" because their heads are broad with short snouts like dogs. It

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