Fun facts about the
Galeopterus variegatus...

• The unique gliding membrane of the Galeopterus variegatus allows them to glide up to 100 meters through the air!

• To get up trees the Galeopterus variegatus makes many small hops upwards. This is because they don’t have thumbs making climbing both awkward and difficult.

• There are only 2 species in the order Dermoptera, as compared to other orders like primate with almost 400!

• The name of the order comes from Greek, derma meaning skin and ptera meanings wing…skin wing!

• Colugos use their gliding membranes not only to glide through the air, but also to carry their young in a marsupial-like fashion (Want to learn more about their reproduction? Click here.)

• The Galeopterus variegatus, aka “flying lemur”, are more closely related to tree shrews than actual lemurs.

 

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