Lita Patrick, age 12, of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, for her question:
Is there an animal called the kobugo?
This mysterious animal certainly exists, though he goes by at least half a dozen different names. Some experts would have us believe that he is a veryrare creature.But scientists who know where to look assure us that this is not so. And the people of southeast Asia agree. They gave him hisvarious names because they speak different languages.
The Malay people of southeast Asia know that he exists. So do the peoples of Thailand, Borneo and the Philippines. Depending upon where he lives, he is known as the "kobugo" or the "kobego," the "koaguan" or the "colugo," the "cobego" or perha~s by some other local name. Visiting naturalists sometimes give up and call him a flying lemur. However, he is not a lemur and he does not really fly.
Scientists admit that he is one of the world's most remarkable ani¬mals and classify his two slightly different species in a group of their own. The kobego, or whatever local name you choose to use, belongs in the animal order Dermoptera, sometimes spelled Dernaptera. Isis small dis¬tinguished group is tucked between the insectivorous moles and the flying bats.
The bats, of course, are the only mammals who fly on genuine, flap¬pable wings. The various so called flying squirrels are gliding mammals. Some of them perform fabulous parachute leaps from the treetops but the remarkable kobugo is the champion aerial acrobat of the mammal world. Ile lives in dense jungles, where his usual method of locomotion includes gliding from one tall tree to the next.
The kobugo is about the size of a long tailed house cat. He has a foxy little face with huge eyes and a pair of large, leafy ears. His most remarkable feature is his silken, chinchilla type fur coat, which hangs down his sides like a luxurious blanket. Actually it cvv.ers two loose flaps of skin. They are attached to his sides from his chin to each of his four paws and the tip of his tail.
When he launches himself from a treetop, he extends his arms, legs and tail and becomes an oblong flying carpet. His furry side flaps make an excellent parachute as he glides gracefully toward the next tree. This champion glider of the animal kingdom may cover a distance of 150 feet. He extends his clawed paws to land safely on the next tree.
The kobugo dines on insects, flowers and perhaps an occasional helping of fruit. lie is classed in an order of his own mainly because his teeth are unique. Each of his upper and lower front teeth has two roots. His lower incisors axe like little combs with ten or twelve fine points.
The kobuga is somewhat mysterious because he is one of the quiet night creatures of the dense jungle. During the day he sleeps high in the branches. The female bears one baby at a time. The little one likes to ride around, clutched to her furry chest though sometimes the weary mother parks him in a hollow tree. When she hangs upside down from a bough, the bright eyed baby nestles comfortably inside her furry hammock.