'Flying lemurs' are more diverse than previously believed

Washington, Nov 11 : A new research has determined that 'flying lemurs', the closest living relatives of primates, are more diverse than had previously been believed.

Primates are most familiarly represented by monkeys and apes, the group including humans.

Scientists had recognized just two species of these enigmatic mammals, the Sunda colugo and the Philippine colugo.

However, the new findings show that the Sunda colugo, found only in Indochina and Sundaland, including the large islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, actually represents at least three separate species.

"We were guessing that we might find that there were different species of Sunda colugo-although we were not sure," said Jan Janecka of Texas A and M University.

"But what really surprised us was how old the speciation events were. Some went back four to five million years, making the colugo species as old as other modern species groups (or genera) such as the primates known as macaques and the leopard cats," he added.

The team's initial hunch that the Sunda colugos might be distinct species came largely from obvious differences in characteristics like body size and color.

In the new study, they compared the DNA of colugos living on the mainland, Java, and Borneo, uncovering enough divergence between the sequences to warrant their designation as three species.

Janecka said that they were particularly surprised to find that each geographic region they studied harbors its own unique species of colugo.

The species tally for colugos will likely continue to rise.

"It appears that within smaller geographic areas, for example Java, there are divergent colugo lineages that could prove to be separate species," said Janecka.

That diversification might be explained by the colugos' unusual way of getting around.

While they have the most developed gliding membrane of any mammal, they are nearly helpless on the ground, leaving them incapable of crossing large open spaces that lack trees.

As sea levels, forest communities, and river systems fluctuated in Sundaland over the last 10 million years, Janecka speculates that isolated colugo populations would have undergone greater diversification from one another than other, more mobile mammals.

The findings have important conservation implications for the colugos, which had been largely ignored because of their apparent abundance.

According to Janecka, it is now important to re-assess the status of each of these species to determine which of them are under threat of extinction, and develop conservation plans that ensure their persistence.

"In addition, some of the small isolated populations that were previously described as subspecies may also represent new species, which could disappear before we even realize they exist," he added.

ANI