Derby's Anomalure

Fascinating facts about the Derby's Anomalure

• A membrane stretched between its front and back legs turns this African squirrel into a glider — but unlike flying squirrels, it has a scaled tail that works like a rudder, letting it make sharp mid-air turns while sailing between canopy trees up to 60 metres apart. The tail's scales grip tree bark on landing, acting as a biological brake.
• Derby's anomalures have a strange pouch on their chest called a dermal gland that produces a pungent scent — males rub it on branches to claim territory and attract mates, leaving a chemical signature that persists for days in the rainforest canopy where they spend almost their entire lives.
• They are almost entirely nocturnal, emerging only after dark to feed on fruits and leaves in the upper forest canopy, which means they navigate a three-dimensional maze of branches in total darkness using only their eyes and touch — yet they almost never fall.
• Each anomalure has a lifespan of roughly 15 years in the wild, far longer than most rodents, possibly because their arboreal life in the rainforest canopy shields them from ground predators and the diseases that plague rodents living at ground level.
• Their scientific name 'Anomalurus' means 'unusual tail,' but the tail is the least unusual part — their remote, canopy-only existence means they are one of Africa's least-studied mammals, with much of their behaviour still unknown to science.

At a glance

About the Derby's Anomalure

In the lush, vibrant forests of central Africa, a most singular creature stirs, the Derby's Anomalure, its large, round eyes shining like lanterns in the dappled gloom as it glides effortlessly through the trees, its long, slender body undulating with each powerful stroke of its membrane. With a gentle whoosh, it launches itself into the air, its patagium, a thin skin membrane, billowing out like a sail to carry it soaring across the forest canopy, a true marvel of evolutionary ingenuity. As it moves, the Anomalure's soft, grey-brown fur blends seamlessly into the shadows, rendering it all but invisible, a ghostly apparition haunting the treetops.

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