Sunda Flying Lemur

Like the flying squirrel, the Sunda flying lemur, or Galeopterus variegatus, has developed a unique way to move among the trees of its native environment—using folds of skin that stretch between its limbs, it glides from branch to branch. From birth to death, Sunda flyinglemurs live their entire lives in the rain forest canopies throughout South east Asia. Their feet and limbs are well adapted for climbing, but are nearly useless for ground speed, meaning that falling to the ground is an almost certain recipe for death.

The skin membrane, called a patagium, is barely a millimeter thick and covers a surface area nearly six times the size of the rest of their body when fully spread. It’s also efficient—Sunda flying lemurs can glide over 320 feet (100 m) in one jump, and they pull it off without dropping more than 33 feet (10 m) during the flight. The name is misleading because the Sunda flying lemur is neither a lemur nor does it actually fly. It’s actually a type of animal called a colugo, and this one accounts for half of all the known colugos in the world. The other one is called the Philippine flying lemur.