POTTOS. 



2 33 



THE POTTOS, OR AFRICAN SLOW LEMURS. 

 Genus Perodicticns. 



In West Africa the place of the 

 slow lemurs of Asia is taken by two 

 species of lemur, which may be col- 

 lectively known as pottos, although 

 in its proper application the native 

 name Potto appears to be restricted 

 to the first of the two kinds. The 

 pottos are distinguished by the index 

 finger of the hand being quite rudi- 

 mentary, consisting only of a stump 

 without distinct joints, and unprovided 

 with a nail. The typical potto is 

 further distinguished by possessing 

 a short tail, but since this appendage 

 is rudimentary in the second species 

 it does not afford any characters by 

 which the African slow lemurs can be 

 distinguished from their Asiatic rela- 

 tives. The habits of the pottos are 

 very similar to those of the loris, but 

 their movements are still more deli- 

 berate and sluggish. 



V 



THE POTTO ASLEEP (J nat. size). 



BOSMAN'S POTTO (Perodicticus potto). 



The true, or Bosnian's potto, represented in our first illustration in its sleeping 

 posture, and in our second awake, takes its name from having been discovered by 

 the Dutch navigator, Van Bosnian, who met with it on the coast of Guinea, and 

 described it as long ago as the year 1705, under its native name of Potto. 



It is an animal of somewhat robust build, chiefly characterised by having a 

 tail of about one-third the length of the head and body ; the whole body being 

 covered with a thick coat of soft and moderately long hair. The small and 

 rounded ears stand up well above the fur of the head ; the large eyes are separated 

 from one another by a considerable interval ; and the muzzle is rather broad 

 and not very long. The arms and legs are of nearly equal length. With the 

 exception of the nearly naked nose and chin, which are flesh-coloured, the general 

 colour of the animal is a kind of chestnut tint, with a black or greyish tinge ; the 

 throat and under-parts being yellowish-brown. The peculiar half-red, half-grey 

 tint of the fur on the back is produced by the individual hairs being slate-coloured 

 at their roots, reddish in the middle, and paler at the tips. 



In addition to the loss of the index finger of the hand, the potto presents a 

 curious peculiarity connected w r ith the joints of the backbone in the neck. The 



