top 10 weirdest critters of Singapore’s rainforest

Common name: Colugo
Scientific name: Galeopterus variegatus
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species.
Threats: Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: A gliding mammal, it has skin membranes linking its head to its finger tips, to its toe tips, and to the tip of its long tail. When gliding from tree to tree, it looks like an open hexagonal umbrella.

Common name: Black-bearded Flying Dragon
Scientific name: Draco melanopogon
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Only found in the rainforest within the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Threats: Restricted to remnant rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: The rib cage of this lizard has opened up to spread the rib bones out along both sides of its torso, linked by a skin membrane. Like a folded-up fan when at rest, they open to form wings for the lizard to glide from tree to tree.

Common name: Twin-barred Gliding Snake
Scientific name: Chrysopelea pelias
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Listed as a Vulnerable Species in Singapore.
Threats: Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: Singapore’s rainforests have several species of gliding or flying snakes. They can leap off trees and flatten their bodies to glide to other trees.

Common name: Ant-piling Assassin Bug
Scientific name: Inara flavopicta
Habitat in Singapore: Forest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Only found in several Nature Reserves here.
Threats: Degradation and loss of natural habitats.
Weird fact: After sucking their bodily juices dry, this predatory insect attaches and piles the corpses of its ant prey onto its back.

Common name: Pill Cockroach
Scientific name: Perisphaerus sp.
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species.
Threats: Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: Able to roll up into a round pill as a form of defence.

Common name: Trilobite Beetle
Scientific name: Duliticola hoiseni
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Only known from the rainforest of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Threats: Restricted to remnant rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: The wingless female Trilobite Beetle (as shown) remains in a larval-like form even after it has matured into an adult. The male is a typical beetle with shell-like outer wings. The female releases pheromone fragrances to attract males to find it.

Common name: Lantern Bug
Scientific name: Zanna sp.
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Only two individuals of Zanna nobilis have ever been found here, in 1939. But till now there has been no further sightings and it is presumed to be already extinct in Singapore.
Threats: Restricted to rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: Lantern Bugs typically have a long, lying Pinocchio-like nose projecting from their faces. If and how the bug uses it is still a mystery. Some species have their noses tipped with a bright red bulb.

Common name: Peripatus
Scientific name: Eoperipatus sp.
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native. Listed as an Endangered Species in Singapore. Has only been found a few times in the rainforest of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Threats: Restricted to remnant rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: Ancient fossils of prehistoric worms with legs have been found and look very similar to the Peripatus. Which makes the Peripatus a living fossil, unchanged for millions of years.

Common name: Malayan Horned Frog
Scientific name: Megophrys nasuta
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Rare. Listed as an Endangered Species in Singapore. Only found in the rainforest within the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Population size unknown.
Threats: Restricted to remnant rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of rainforest habitat.
Weird fact: This frog has evolved to surviving in rainforest leaf litter by looking like and pretending to be a brown, dead leaf. The call of the male is a very loud ‘kwank’!

Common name: Forest Softshell Turtle
Scientific name: Dogania subplana
Habitat in Singapore: Rainforest
Present status in Singapore: Native species. Found only in remnant patches of freshwater swampforest in our Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Threats: Restricted to shaded forest streams in remnant rainforest habitat. Degradation and loss of suitable stream and rainforest habitats.
Weird fact: This freshwater turtle looks exactly like a dead rotting brown leaf. Apart from its rotting leaf patterns, it also has frilly skin flaps to help it blend into leaf litter in rainforest streams.