Colugo vs Flying Squirrel for Kids
Colugos and flying squirrels are nocturnal tree mammals that independently evolved gliding membranes, but they are distant relatives. This page compares the Sunda colugo, Galeopterus variegatus, with the southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. The colugo belongs to Dermoptera, the living sister group of primates, yet it is not a lemur. It is many times heavier and wraps an almost continuous furred patagium around its neck, fingers, toes, limbs, and tail. The flying squirrel is a true rodent and squirrel. Its smaller side membrane is extended by special wrist cartilage while its flattened tail steers. Both glide rather than fly, hide in trees by day, and use large eyes after dark.
Sunda Colugo
- Type: Large Full-Membrane Gliding Mammal
- Group: Living species Galeopterus variegatus, one of the colugos in mammal order Dermoptera and family Cynocephalidae; the flying lemur nickname is misleading because it is not a lemur
- Known for: Lichen-mottled fur, enormous forward-facing eyes, tiny ears, curved claws, webbed digits, the most extensive patagium of any gliding mammal, long controlled glides, comb-shaped lower incisors, plant diet, and a baby carried under the membrane
- Diet: Herbivore browsing young leaves, shoots, buds, flowers, fruit, nectar, and sap, with unusual comb-like incisors used in grooming and possibly straining or scraping plant material
- Special skill: Stretching a furred patagium from neck to fingertips, between fingers and toes, between all four limbs, and around the tail to form a broad steerable living kite
Southern Flying Squirrel
- Type: Small Wrist-Supported Gliding Rodent
- Group: Living species Glaucomys volans, a New World flying squirrel in mammal order Rodentia, family Sciuridae, and tribe Pteromyini; it is a true squirrel but cannot perform powered flight
- Known for: Tiny grey-brown body, white belly, enormous dark eyes, rounded ears, flattened rudder tail, loose side membrane, wrist-supported wingtip, agile turns and landings, tree-cavity nests, food caches, ultrasonic calls, varied diet, and communal winter sleeping
- Diet: Omnivore eating acorns, hickory and beech nuts, seeds, fruit, fungi, buds, flowers, insects, eggs, carrion, and other small foods, while caching hard mast for winter
- Special skill: Extending the side patagium with a unique styliform cartilage at each wrist, steering with membrane tension and a flattened tail, then raising the tail and body to brake for a feet-first tree landing
Quick Answer
Quick answer: A Sunda colugo is a 0.9-2-kilogram Southeast Asian herbivore in order Dermoptera with a nearly full-body patagium, webbed digits, and comb-shaped lower incisors. A southern flying squirrel is a roughly mouse-sized North American rodent with a side membrane supported by wrist cartilage, a flattened steering tail, and an omnivorous diet. Both launch from height and glide downward between trees; neither flaps upward in powered flight.
Sunda Colugo vs Southern Flying Squirrel: Quick Comparison
| Feature | Sunda Colugo | Southern Flying Squirrel |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific identity | Galeopterus variegatus; order Dermoptera | Glaucomys volans; order Rodentia |
| Adult size | About 0.9-2 kg; 33-42 cm body plus 17.5-27 cm tail | Usually only tens of grams; roughly 21-26 cm including a long tail |
| True relatives | Sister group to primates, but not itself a primate or lemur | A true squirrel in family Sciuridae and therefore a rodent |
| Patagium | Runs from neck around limbs, between digits, and to the tail tip | Mainly stretches between front and hind legs, with extra membrane near the tail |
| Wingtip support | Fingers and toes are webbed into the broad membrane | A unique styliform wrist cartilage extends each outer wing edge |
| Tail | Tail is enclosed within a broad rear membrane | Flattened furry tail acts as rudder, brake, and pitch controller |
| Main food | Leaves, shoots, flowers, fruit, nectar, and sap | Nuts, seeds, fruit, fungi, insects, eggs, and other available foods |
| Camouflage | Grey, brown, red, or black fur mottled like bark and lichen | Grey-brown back and white belly blend with bark and dim canopy light |
| Social life | Usually alone or in small loose associations | Often shares winter dens with familiar squirrels to save heat |
| Young | One underdeveloped infant clings under a folded rear patagium | Several helpless pups grow in a lined tree cavity and are nursed by the mother |
How Are Sunda Colugo and Southern Flying Squirrel Alike?
- Both are warm-blooded, fur-covered placental mammals that spend most of their lives in trees and give birth to live young that drink milk.
- Both are mainly nocturnal, have very large eyes, cling with claws, hide or rest by day, and use mottled grey-brown fur against bark.
- Both stretch a patagium between body regions to turn a fall into a controlled glide, steering by changing membrane shape and body position.
- Both must first climb or begin high in a tree, lose overall height during a glide, land on a trunk or branch, and climb again before another launch.
- Both depend on connected forests and safe landing trees, disperse or influence plant and fungal resources, and can be harmed when canopy gaps become too wide.
How Are Sunda Colugo and Southern Flying Squirrel Different?
- The Sunda colugo is a dermopteran and close primate cousin, while the southern flying squirrel is a rodent and true member of the squirrel family.
- A colugo can weigh around twenty or more times as much and has a much larger continuous skin sail, while the flying squirrel is tiny and extremely agile among crowded branches.
- The colugo membrane reaches the neck, finger and toe tips, spaces between digits, and tail tip; the squirrel membrane is concentrated between limbs and extended by wrist cartilage.
- Colugos eat soft plant material with strange comb-like incisors, while flying squirrels have typical growing rodent incisors and a much broader omnivorous diet.
- Colugos are mainly solitary and carry one clinging infant, while southern flying squirrels raise cavity-nesting litters and often sleep communally during cold weather.
Colugo vs Flying Squirrel Showdown
Adaptation showdown: Colugo wins size because a Sunda colugo weighs about 0.9-2 kilograms, many times the mass of a southern flying squirrel measured in only tens of grams. Speed is a Tie because glide speed changes with launch height, angle, wind, route, and braking, and no fair matched race between these exact species exists; a longer glide is not automatically a faster glide. Colugo wins strength in absolute climbing and landing force because its far larger body and full-body membrane transmit much greater loads, but this is not a fight prediction. Stealth is a Tie because both are nocturnal, freeze or hide against trunks, and wear effective bark-coloured camouflage in very different forests. Flying Squirrel wins social behaviour because southern flying squirrels communicate frequently and form winter den aggregations that reduce heat loss, while Sunda colugos are usually solitary or loosely associated. Swimming is a Tie because neither is specialised for aquatic travel and there is no useful matched swimming test. Colugo wins weirdest for joining nearly every edge of its body into a furred sail, including webbing between the digits, while also carrying comb-shaped teeth and folding the rear membrane around a clinging infant.
Fun Colugo vs Flying Squirrel Facts
Neither Animal Truly Flies
Powered fliers such as bats flap to produce continuing thrust and can gain height without first climbing. A colugo or flying squirrel launches from a high point and converts gravity into forward movement. The patagium creates lift and drag, but the animal loses net height and must climb before gliding again.
Their Skin Sails Have Different Blueprints
The colugo’s furred patagium begins at the neck, wraps along the fingers, spans the front and hind limbs, webs the toes, and continues around the tail. The flying squirrel’s main membrane stretches between limbs and gains an aerodynamic wingtip from a styliform cartilage projecting from the wrist.
A Flying Lemur Is Not a Lemur
The nickname flying lemur describes a colugo but gets both words wrong: colugos glide rather than fly and belong to order Dermoptera rather than the primate group containing lemurs. Genomic evidence places colugos as the sister group to primates. Flying squirrels instead belong to Rodentia.
The Babies Travel in Different Nurseries
A newborn colugo is very underdeveloped and clings beneath its mother. She can fold the rear patagium around the infant like a protective hammock while resting and carry it during glides. A southern flying squirrel mother leaves several pups safely in a lined tree-cavity nest while she forages.
Their Teeth Match Different Menus
Colugos have lower incisors divided into narrow prongs like comb teeth, useful for grooming the huge membrane and possibly handling sap or soft plant foods. Flying squirrels have the chisel-like, continuously growing incisors of rodents and eat nuts, seeds, fungi, insects, eggs, and many other foods.
Colugo vs Flying Squirrel Quiz
- Is a Sunda colugo a true lemur? Answer: No. It belongs to order Dermoptera, the sister group to primates.
- Which benchmark is much heavier? Answer: The Sunda colugo.
- What structure lets both mammals glide? Answer: A skin membrane called a patagium.
- What extends a flying squirrel’s outer membrane edge? Answer: A styliform cartilage projecting from the wrist.
- Which animal commonly shares winter nests for warmth? Answer: The southern flying squirrel.
Colugo vs Flying Squirrel FAQ
What is the main difference between a colugo and flying squirrel?
A colugo is a large Southeast Asian dermopteran with a nearly full-body membrane, while a flying squirrel is a small rodent whose side membrane is extended by wrist cartilage.
Which is bigger, a colugo or flying squirrel?
The Sunda colugo wins easily at about 0.9-2 kilograms, while a southern flying squirrel weighs only tens of grams.
Can colugos and flying squirrels really fly?
No. Both glide downward from a high launch, steer through the air, land on a tree, and climb before launching again.
Is a colugo related to a lemur?
Colugos are the living sister group to primates, so they are distant cousins of all primates, but a colugo is not itself a lemur or primate.
Which glider has the bigger membrane?
The colugo. Its patagium reaches from the neck to the fingers, toes, limbs, and tail tip, creating the most extensive membrane among gliding mammals.
Animal Words to Know
- Patagium: A flexible skin membrane used to create lift and control during gliding.
- Dermoptera: The mammal order containing the living colugos.
- Styliform cartilage: A rodlike wrist structure that extends and shapes the outer edge of a flying squirrel’s membrane.
- Glide ratio: The horizontal distance travelled compared with the height lost during a glide.
- Toothcomb: A row or individual teeth divided into narrow prongs that can help with grooming or feeding.
Engineer Two Safe Forest Gliders
Engineer Two Safe Forest Gliders
Build two paper gliders without copying animals as toys to throw at people. Make the colugo model larger, with one continuous paper membrane from neck to fingertips, between spread fingers and toes, around all four limbs, and to the tail tip. Make the southern flying squirrel model much smaller, with side membranes from wrist to ankle, small triangular wrist extensions, and a separate flat rudder tail. Add accurate tree silhouettes for Southeast Asian rainforest and eastern North American hardwood forest, body-mass tokens, glide paths that always lose height, comb-tooth and rodent-incisor close-ups, plant-versus-omnivore food cards, one clinging infant icon, one cavity litter, and communal winter-nest circles. Test different paper membrane shapes from a low safe launch and record landing accuracy rather than claiming an animal speed race.
Meet Each Animal
Want the full fact file? Here are quick highlights from each animalโs own facts page.
Sunda Colugo Fact Highlight
From the full animal facts pageSouthern Flying Squirrel Fact Highlight
From the full animal facts pageMore Animal Comparisons
Pick another animal matchup and keep exploring. Tiny facts, big questions, very serious animal business.
Make an Animal Story
Turn two moonlit glides, a missing nut cache, and a baby riding beneath a living sail into an adventure with our free Animal Story Generator.