All Topics  
Lorisidae

 
Lorisidae

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Lorisidae
 
 
  Topics Lorisidae Topic Home

Lorisidae (or sometimes Loridae) is a family of strepsirrhine primate
Primate

A primate is a member of the biological order Primates , the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, Lorisidaes, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including humans....
s. The lorids are all slim arboreal
Arboreal

Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or Shrubes....
 animals and include the loris
Loris

Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates of the subfamily Lorinae in family Lorisidae. Loris is one genus in this subfamily and represents the slender lorises, while Nycticebus is the genus for the slow lorises....
es, potto
Potto

The 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....
s and angwantibo
Angwantibo

The angwantibos are the two species of strepsirrhine primates that are classified in the Arctocebus genus of the Lorisidae family. They are also known as golden pottos because of their yellow or golden coloration....
s. Lorids live in tropical, central Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 as well as in south and southeast Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
.

ds have a close, woolly fur which is usually grey or brown colored, darker on the top side. The eyes are large and face forward.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Lorisidae'
Start a new discussion about 'Lorisidae'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Lorisidae (or sometimes Loridae) is a family of strepsirrhine primate
Primate

A primate is a member of the biological order Primates , the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, Lorisidaes, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including humans....
s. The lorids are all slim arboreal
Arboreal

Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or Shrubes....
 animals and include the loris
Loris

Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates of the subfamily Lorinae in family Lorisidae. Loris is one genus in this subfamily and represents the slender lorises, while Nycticebus is the genus for the slow lorises....
es, potto
Potto

The 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....
s and angwantibo
Angwantibo

The angwantibos are the two species of strepsirrhine primates that are classified in the Arctocebus genus of the Lorisidae family. They are also known as golden pottos because of their yellow or golden coloration....
s. Lorids live in tropical, central Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 as well as in south and southeast Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
.

Physical Characteristics

Lorids have a close, woolly fur which is usually grey or brown colored, darker on the top side. The eyes are large and face forward. The ears are small and often partially hidden in the fur. The thumbs are opposable and the index finger is short. The second toe of the hind legs has a fine claw for grooming, typical for strepsirrhines. Their tails are short or are missing completely. They grow to a length of 17 to 40 cm and a weight of between 0.3 and 2 kg, depending on the species. Their dental formula
Dentition

Dentition is the tooth development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth.All mammals except the monotremes, the xenarthrans, the pangolins, and the cetaceans have up to four distinct types of teeth, with a maximum number for each....
 is similar to that of lemurs:

Behavior

Lorids are diurnal
Diurnal animal

Scientific term refered to as an animal behavior, diurnality indicates an animal that is active during the daytime and rests during the night. Animals that are not diurnal might be Nocturnality or crepuscular .  Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects and birds....
 and arboreal
Arboreal

Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or Shrubes....
. Unlike the closely related galago
Galago

Galagos, also known as bushbabies, bush babies or nagapies , are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa, and make up the family Galagidae ....
s, lorids never jump. Some have slow deliberate movements, whilst others can move with some speed across branches. It was previously thought that all lorids moved slowly, but investigations using red light proved this to be wrong. Nonetheless, even the faster species freeze or move slowly if they hear or see any potential predator. This habit of remaining motionless whilst in danger is successful only because of the leafy environment of their jungle home, which helps to conceal their true position. With their strong hands they clasp at the branches and cannot be removed without significant force. Most lorids are solitary or live in small family groups.

Diet

The main diet of most lorids consists of insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, but they also consume bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
 eggs
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
 and small vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s as well as fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s and sap.

Reproduction

Lorids have a gestation
Gestation

Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during mammalian pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
 period of four to six months and give birth to two young. These often clasp themselves to the belly of the mother or wait in nests, while the mother goes to search for food. After three to nine months - depending upon species - they are weaned
Weaning

Weaning is the process of gradually introducing a mammal infant, either human or animal, to what will be its adult diet and withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk....
 and are fully mature within ten to eighteen months. The life expectancy
Life expectancy

Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is the average expected lifespan of an individual. Life expectancy is heavily dependent on the criteria used to select the group....
 of the lorises can be to up to 20 years.

Classification

There are five genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 and nine species of lorid.

  • ORDER PRIMATES
    • Suborder Strepsirrhini
      Strepsirrhini

      The clade Strepsirrhini is one of the two suborders of primates. One of the most distinguishing characteristic of these 118 species is their wet noses, and it is this feature for which the grouping is named....
      : non-tarsier prosimians
      • Family Lemuridae
        Lemuridae

        Lemuridae is a family of prosimian primates native to Madagascar, and one of four families commonly known as lemurs. These animals were thought to be the evolutionary predecessors of monkeys and apes, but this is no longer considered correct....
        : lemurs
      • Family Lepilemuridae: sportive lemurs
      • Family Cheirogaleidae
        Cheirogaleidae

        Cheirogaleidae is the family of strepsirrhine primates that contains the various dwarf and mouse lemurs. Like all other lemurs, cheirogaleids live exclusively on the island of Madagascar....
        : dwarf and mouse lemurs
      • Family Indriidae
        Indriidae

        The Indridae are a family of strepsirrhine primates. They are medium to large sized lemurs with only four teeth in the toothcomb instead of the usual six....
        : woolly lemurs and allies
      • Family Daubentoniidae: Aye-aye
      • Family Lorisidae
        • Subfamily Perodicticinae
          Perodicticinae

          Perodicticinae is the subfamily of Lorisidae that includes the four species of African primates as shown below. They have a vestigial tail and index finger....
          • Genus Arctocebus
            • Calabar Angwantibo
              Calabar Angwantibo

              The Calabar Angwantibo , also known as the Calabar Potto, is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family. It shares the genus Arctocebus with the Golden Angwantibo ....
              , Arctocebus calabarensis
            • Golden Angwantibo
              Golden Angwantibo

              The Golden Angwantibo is a strepsirrhine primate from the family Lorisidae. It shares the Arctocebus genus with the Calabar Angwantibo and together they are commonly called the golden pottos....
              , Arctocebus aureus
          • Genus Perodicticus
            • Potto
              Potto

              The 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....
              , Perodicticus potto
          • Genus Pseudopotto
            • False Potto
              False Potto

              The False Potto is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family, very similar in anatomy and appearance to the Potto . The classification of the False Potto into its own genus and species was proposed in 1996 by Jeffrey Schwartz of the American Museum of Natural History....
              , Pseudopotto martini
        • Subfamily Lorinae
          • Genus Loris
            Slender loris

            The slender lorises are two species of loris, the only members of the genus Loris:* the Red Slender Loris, Loris tardigradus* the Gray Slender Loris, Loris lydekkerianus...
            • Red Slender Loris
              Red Slender Loris

              The Red Slender Loris is a small, nocturnal prosimian native to the rainforests of Sri Lanka. This is #6 of the 10 focal species and #22 of the 100 EDGE Species worldwide considered the most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered....
              , Loris tardigradus
            • Gray Slender Loris
              Gray Slender Loris

              The Gray Slender Loris is a species of primate in the Loridae family. It is found in India and Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
              , Loris lydekkerianus
          • Genus Nycticebus
            • Sunda Loris
              Sunda Loris

              The Sunda Loris is a slow loris. This slow moving strepsirrhine primate has large eyes that point forward, and ears that are small and nearly hidden in the fur....
              , Nycticebus coucang
            • Bengal Slow Loris
              Bengal Slow Loris

              The Bengal Slow Loris is a species of slow loris. This slow moving strepsirrhine primate has large eyes that point forward, and ears that are small and nearly hidden in the fur....
              , Nycticebus bengalensis
            • Pygmy Slow Loris
              Pygmy Slow Loris

              The Pygmy Slow Loris is a rare species of loris found in the Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forestss of Vietnam, Laos, China, and parts of Cambodia....
              , Nycticebus pygmaeus
      • Family Galagidae: galagos
    • Suborder Haplorrhini
      Haplorrhini

      The haplorrhines, the "dry-nosed" primates , are members of the Haplorrhini Cladistics: the prosimian tarsiers and all of the true simians ....
      : tarsiers, monkeys and apes