The Potto (Perodicticus potto) is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family. It is the only species in genus Perodicticus. The name "Potto" possibly comes from the African word "pata", which means tailless ape. The Potto is also known as Bosman's Potto, after its supposed discoverer, and in some English-speaking parts of Africa it is called a Softly-softly. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn2. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... Families 15, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ... Genera Arctocebus Perodicticus Pseudopotto Loris Nycticebus Lorisidae (or sometimes Loridae) is a family of strepsirrhine primates. ... Genera Perodicticus Arctocebus Pseudopotto Perodicticinae is the subfamily of Loridae that includes the four species of African primates as shown below. ... Edward Turner Bennett (1797 - August 21, 1836) was an English zoologist and writer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller (1725 - 1776) was a German zoologist. ... The term potto can refer to: Any of the following closely related prosimians: the Potto (Perodicticus potto) the golden pottos (Arctocebus sp. ... Families Cheirogaleidae Lemuridae Megaladapidae Indridae Daubentoniidae (Aye-aye) Loridae Galagonidae The Strepsirrhini clade is one of the two suborders of primates. ... Families 15, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ... Genera Arctocebus Perodicticus Pseudopotto Loris Nycticebus Lorisidae (or sometimes Loridae) is a family of strepsirrhine primates. ...

There are three recognized subspecies:

• Perodicticus potto potto
• Perodicticus potto edwardsi
• Perodicticus potto ibeanus

A few closely related species also have "potto" in their name: the two golden potto species (also known as angwantibos) and the False Potto. Species Arctocebus calabarensis Arctocebus aureus Angwantibo is the common name for two species of strepsirrhine primates and are classified in genus Arctocebus of the family Loridae. ... Species Arctocebus calabarensis Arctocebus aureus Angwantibo is the common name for two species of strepsirrhine primates and are classified in genus Arctocebus of the family Lorisidae. ... [[{{{diversity_link}}}|Diversity]] {{{diversity}}} Binomial name Pseudopotto martini Schwartz, 1996 Trinomial name {{{trinomial}}} Type Species {{{type_species}}} {{{subdivision_ranks}}} [[Image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width}}}|]] Synonyms {{{synonyms}}} The False Potto (Pseudopotto martini) is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family, very similar in anatomy and appearance to the Potto (Perodicticus potto). ...

Habitat

Pottos inhabit the canopy of rain forests in tropical Africa, from Guinea to Kenya and Uganda into the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are nocturnal and arboreal, sleeping during the day in the leaves and almost never descending from the trees. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... The kinkajou is an arboreal mammal. ...

Physiology

Pottos grow to a length of 30 to 40 cm with a short (3 to 10 cm) tail and their maximum weight is 1.5 kg. The close, woolly fur is grey brown. The index finger is vestigial, although they have opposable thumbs with which they grasp branches firmly. At the second toes of the hind legs they have the fine claw typical for strepsirrhines. Three of the vertebrae in the Potto's neck have sharp points and nearly pierce the skin; these are used as defensive weapons. Both males and females have large scent glands under the tail (in females, the swelling created by the glands is known as a pseudo-scrotum), which they use to mark their territories and to reinforce pair bonds. Pottos have a distinct odor that some observers have likened to curry.

Locomotion and diet

Pottos move slowly and carefully, always gripping a branch with at least two limbs. They are also quiet creatures. Their commonest call is a high-pitched 'tsic,' which is used mainly between mother and offspring.

Studies of stomach contents have shown that the Potto diet consists of about 65% fruit, 21% tree gums and 10% insects. Pottos have also occasionally been known to catch bats and small birds. Their strong jaws enable them to eat fruits and lumps of dried gum that are too tough for other tree-dwellers. The insects they eat tend to have a strong smell, possibly because more palatable insects are snatched up by faster-moving creatures.

Territorial and reproductive behaviour

Pottos inhabit firm territories which they mark with urine and glandular secretions, and same-sex intruders are vehemently guarded against, although each male's territory generally overlaps with that of two or more females. Females have been known to donate part of their territories to their daughters, but sons leave their mother's territory upon maturity.

As part of their courting rituals, Pottos often meet for bouts of mutual grooming. This is frequently performed while they hang upside down from a branch. Grooming consists of licking, combing fur with the grooming claw and teeth, and anointing with the scent glands. Pottos mate face-to-face while hanging upside down from a branch.

After a gestation of about 170 days the female gives birth. Births are typically of a single young, but twins are known to occur. The young first are clasped to the belly of the mother, but later she carries them on her back. She can also hide her young in the leaves while searching for food. After about four to five months they are weaned and are fully mature after about 18 months.

Predators and defences

Pottos have relatively few predators, because large mammalian carnivores cannot climb to the treetops where they live, and the birds of prey in this part of Africa are diurnal. One population of chimpanzees living in Mont Assirik, Senegal, was observed to eat Pottos, taking them from their sleeping places during the day; however, this behaviour has not been observed in chimps elsewhere. Pottos living near villages face some predation from humans, who hunt them as bushmeat. They are sometimes harassed by African Palm Civets, although African Palm Civets are largely frugivorous. Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... Carnivorism redirects here. ... Orders Accipitriformes     Cathartidae     Pandionidae     Accipitridae     Sagittariidae Falconiformes     Falconidae A bird of prey or raptor is a bird that hunts its food, especially one that preys on mammals or other birds. ... A diurnal animal (dÄ«-Å­rnÉ™l) is an animal that is active during the daytime and sleeps during the night. ... Type species Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 distribution of Species Pan troglodytes Pan paniscus Chimpanzee, often shortened to chimp, is the common name for the two extant species in the genus Pan. ... This article is about modern humans. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Binomial name Nandinia binotata Gray, 1830 The African Palm Civet (Nandinia binotata), also known as the Two-spotted Palm Civet, is a small mammal, with short legs, small ears, a body resembling a cat, and a long lithe tail as long as its body. ... A frugivore is an animal that feeds on fruit. ...

If threatened, a Potto will hide its face and neck-butt its opponent, making use of its unusual vertebrae. Pottos can also deliver a powerful bite. Their saliva contains compounds that cause the wound to become inflamed. Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and some animals. ...

The highest recorded life span for a Potto in captivity is 26 years.

Cognition and social behaviour

In a study of prosimian cognition conducted in 1964, Pottos were seen to explore and manipulate unfamiliar objects, but only when those objects were baited with food. They were found to be more curious than lorises and lesser bushbabies, but less so than lemurs. Ursula Cowgill, a biologist at Yale University who looked after six captive Pottos for several decades, noticed that they appeared to form altruistic relationships. The captive Pottos were seen to spend time with a sick companion and to save food for an absent one. However, there is no confirmation that this behaviour occurs in the wild. The Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) is a prosimian of the family Lemuridae. ... Look up Cognition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Genera Loris Nycticebus For other uses, see Loris (disambiguation). ... Type species Galago senegalensis E. Geoffroy, 1796 Species See text The lesser bushbabies are the common name for the strepsirrhine primates in the genus Galago. ... Superfamilies and Families Cheirogaleoidea Cheirogaleidae Lemuroidea Lemuridae Lepilemuridae Indriidae Lemurs make up the infraorder Lemuriformes and are members of a class of primates known as prosimians . ... Ursula Cowgill was a biologist who worked for Yale University and Dow Chemical Company during the second half of the 20th century. ... Yale redirects here. ...

Pottos in human culture

The Potto is not particularly familiar to people outside Africa, but some will know it from its appearance in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels. Virginia Woolf's nickname was 'Potto,' and James Thurber sketched a Potto for a series of animal cartoons. André Gide wrote an autobiographical story entitled Dindiki ou le pérodictique potto. Patrick OBrian (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000; born as Richard Patrick Russ) was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish... For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ... James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894–November 2, 1961) was a U.S. humorist and cartoonist. ... André Gide in 1893 Gide redirects here, for other people named Gide, see Gide (disambiguation) André Paul Guillaume Gide (November 22, 1869 – February 19, 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ...

References

• Butynski et al (2000). Perodicticus potto. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006.
• The Behavior Guide to African Mammals by Richard Despard Estes (University of California Press, 1991)
• Primate Cognition by Michael Tomasello and Josep Call (Oxford University Press, 1997)
• 'Chimpanzees in the dry habitats of Mont Assirik, Senegal and Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda' by K. D. Hunt and W. C. McGrew. Chapter from Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos, edited by Christophe Boesch (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
• Hunting for Sustainability in Tropical Forests, edited by John Robinson and Elizabeth Bennett (Columbia University Press, 1999)
• Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 123. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... Richard Despard Estes (born 1928) is a biologist specialising in the behaviour of mammals in mainland Africa. ... University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. ... Michael Tomasello (born 18 January 1950 in Bartow, Florida) is a cognitive psychologist and the co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... For other uses, see Bonobo (disambiguation). ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... Several notable individuals have been named John Robinson: Bishop John Robinson, persons named John Robinson who also happened to be Bishops John Robinson (1576-1625), organized Mayflower voyage John Robinson (1615-1680), English MP John Robinson (1650-1723), English diplomat; later Bishop of Bristol from 1710 and Lord Privy Seal... Elizabeth Bennett is a British actress. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ... Dr Colin Groves is a Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Potto (Perodicticus potto)
• The Longevity of a Colony of Captive Nocturnal Prosimians (Perodicticus potto). Article by Ursula Cowgill et al. from the Laboratory Primate Newsletter.
• A bidiurnal cycle in the feeding habit of Perodicticus potto. Article by Cowgill from Zoology magazine.
• Colour photograph of two pottos
• Black and white photograph of potto with young
• Primate Info Net Perodicticus Factsheets