Colugo's classification

Quoted from Norman Lim's Colugo book:

Flying Lemurs are classified in the order Dermoptera, from the Greek words derma, meaning "skin", and ptera, meaning "wing", thus "skin-wing". This is one of the smallest of all the 26 mammalian orders. There is only one family in Dermoptera, that is Cynocephalidae, from the Greek words cyno meaning" dog", and cephalus meaning "head", hence "dog-head".

Lately, results from morphological studies and molecular studies have often yielded differing views on the relationship of flying lemurs with other extant mammals. Of great interest to geneticists is the recent discovery that the genomic composition of the mitochondria in dermopterans is highly similar to that of simian primates (suborder Anthropoidea; which includes humans), making them our likely distant relatives. Professor Ulfur Amason of Lund University, Sweden went on record declaring that: "We (human beings) are more closely related to flying lemurs than we are to half-apes."

When the Colugo was excluded from the primate order, one reason was that it has a small-brain, large ventricle syndrome, something that it shares with other non-primates like the Koala of Australia (Phascolarctoscinereus) and the Three-toed Sloth of the Neotropics (Bradypustridactylus). This, however, could be due to other factors that these animals share, i.e. mainly an exclusive diet of leaves that exposes them to high levels of ph yo toxins. In other words, the toxins in the Colugo's diet might cause developmental disturbances that give it a small brain and conceal its true relationship to primates. So, while the original classification by Linnaeus was later rejected, he might in fact have been right all along in placing the Colugo among the primates!

(click image to enlarge)

So........ in summary, Colugo is a mammal in the order Dermoptera!

Cheers,
Rachel