Philippine Colugo

Open encyclopedia reference

The Philippine flying lemur or Philippine colugo (Cynocephalus volans), known locally as kagwang, is one of two species of colugo or "flying lemurs". It is monotypic of its genus. Although it is called "flying lemur", the Philippine flying lemur is neither a lemur nor does it fly. Instead, it glides as it leaps among trees.

The kagwang belongs to the order Dermoptera that contains only two species, one of which is found in the Philippines, while the other, the Sunda flying lemur, is found in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Recent research from genetic analysis suggests two other species, the Bornean flying lemur and the Javan flying lemur, may exist, as well, but they have yet to be officially classified.

Both species of Dermoptera are classified under the grandorder Euarchonta, which includes treeshrews and primates, as well as an extinct order of mammals, the Plesiadapiformes.

Wikipedia contributors, Philippine flying lemur; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:04:57.534718+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cynocephalus volans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

Philippine Colugo

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Dermoptera

Family

Cynocephalidae

Genus

Cynocephalus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderDermoptera Illiger, 1811
12. familyCynocephalidae Simpson, 1945
13. genusCynocephalus Boddaert, 1768
14. speciesCynocephalus volans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 2 records assigned to Cynocephalidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=573234 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:339J4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.