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BohoBio Bio
Hello, my name is Coco, and this is my BohoBio Bio
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Name : Coco the Colugo
Scientific Name : Galeopterus variegatus Other Name : flying lemur Hometown : Baku National Park, Malaysian Borneo Favorite Food : fruits, nectar, shoots, and tree sap Personality : shy, ok with small groups, creature of the night Best Feature : amazing toe-to-tail skin sail Biggest Concerns : avoiding eagles, surviving human impact Shout out : The Habitat Foundation |
WHERE I’M FROM
There are 2 species of colugos in the world, both of which live in southeast Asia. I am a Malayan colugo and live I live in rainforest in Bako National Park. We colugos like forests where we easily get from tree to tree without having to touch the ground. Rainforests are the best, but we can also survive in drier forests.
TRAITS & ABILITIES
I am often called a flying lemur, but this is wrong in two ways. First, I am not a lemur. Lemurs are primates that live in Madagascar, while I am not a primate and I live in Malaysia. Second, I can’t fly. Flying requires flapping wings to get off the ground and moving up and down through the air. I don’t have wings, nor can I move up through the air. What I can do is called gliding which is like turning falling down into falling forward. This works great for getting from one tall tree to another, and I am a master of this feat. To accomplish this, I have an awesome layer of skin called a patagium that stretches between my neck and body to my limbs and tail. When I leap off one tree, I spread my four legs out wide and extend my tail to create a sail that allows me to glide to another nearby tree. When I get to the next tree I swoop up and cling to the tree with my sharp claws on all four feet. Gliding is assisted by having a small and lightweight body (I am 38 cm long and weigh 1.1 kg).
I stay stuck to a tree most all of the time, even when I’m sleeping which I like to do while hanging upside down from a branch. I sleep during the day and then crawl around the tree at night in search of tasty soft parts such as fruits, flowers, nectar, new leaves and sap.
I stay stuck to a tree most all of the time, even when I’m sleeping which I like to do while hanging upside down from a branch. I sleep during the day and then crawl around the tree at night in search of tasty soft parts such as fruits, flowers, nectar, new leaves and sap.
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Pregnancy is short and lasts only about 2 months and mother colugos usually have only one offspring which is small and weak (about 35g). The mother will nurse the young for about 6 months, carrying it around in a pouch formed from her patagium. The offspring will reach full size and start forming their own family between 2 to 3 years old. Can you see the infant in this photo?
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PRESENT & FUTURE
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Right now, we are doing ok and are classified as “least concern” though our population is declining and this classification could change. We need your help if we are to have a future in which our home is safe and protected. We are fortunate to have friends like “The Habitat Foundation”. This group is dedicated to protecting biodiversity in Malaysia. So long as the effort of people trying to protect us and our home are greater than the efforts of people trying to destroy our home, we will have a future presence on our planet. |
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