COLUGO

colugo, or cobego, either of two species of the zoological genus _galeopithecus_. these animals live in the forests of the malay peninsula, sumatra, borneo and the philippine islands, where they feed chiefly on leaves, and probably also on insects. in size they may be compared with cats; the long slender limbs are connected by a broad fold of skin extending outwards from the sides of the neck and body, the fingers and toes are webbed, and the hind-limbs joined by an outer membrane as in bats. their habits are nocturnal, and during the daytime they cling to the trunks or limbs of trees head downwards in a state of repose. with the approach of night their season of activity commences, when they may be occasionally seen gliding from tree to tree supported on their cutaneous parachute, and they have been noticed as capable of traversing in this way a space of 70 yds. with a descent of only about one in five. europeans in the east know these animals as "flying lemurs." (see galeopithecus.)