Sunda Flying Lemur

About the Sunda Flying Lemur

The Sunda flying lemur (Galeopterus variegatus), also called Malayan flying lemur and Malayan colugo, is the sole colugo species of the genus Galeopterus. It is native to Southeast Asia from southern Myanmar, Thailand, southern Vietnam, Malaysia to Singapore and Indonesia and listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Although it is called "flying lemur", it cannot fly but glides among trees and is strictly arboreal. It is active at night, and feeds on soft plant parts such as young leaves, shoots, flowers, and fruits. It is a forest-dependent species.

The Sunda flying lemur is protected by national legislation. The Sunda flying lemurs are often hunted by local people with spears or other lethal equipment for various reasons such as food and fur. Habitat loss is known to occur intermittently, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia.

The Sunda flying lemurs' two forms are not morphologically distinct from one another; the large form occurs on the mainland of the Sunda Shelf area and the mainland of Southeast Asia, while the dwarf form occurs in central Laos and some other adjacent islands. The Laos specimen is smaller (about 20%) than the... Wikipedia →