Like the flying squirrels of America and Eurasia, the more distantly related flying scaly-tailed squirrels of Africa, and the marsupial gliders of Australia and New Guinea, colugos have a single large flap of skin, the patagium, which works a bit like a controlled parachute. Unlike that of the other gliders, the colugo’s patagium embraces the tail as well as the limbs, and it extends right to the tips of the fingers and toes. Colugos are also, with a ‘wing’ span of 70 centimetres, larger than any of those other gliders.
