60 - THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



Pottos and Very characteristic of the West African tropical forests are two 



Awantibos. remarkable creatures allied to the lemurs of Madagascar, but forming 

 a group by themselves. These are the potto (Perodicticus potto) and the awantibo 

 (Arctocebus calabarensis). The typical representatives of these two genera, often 

 distinguished as Bosnian's potto and the Calabar awantibo, were long regarded as 

 the sole representatives of their kind, and of the second only a very few examples 

 had found their way into collections. In 1879 a potto from the Gabun was, 

 however, described by a French naturalist as a distinct species, on account of its 

 larger size, longer head, shorter tail, and greyer tone of colouring; and in 1902 an 

 English writer added to each genus a species from the French Congo. Both pottos 

 and awantibos — which are known to British residents on the west coast as sloths — 

 are not much larger than a big squirrel, and are characterised by their rudimentary 

 tails and the abortion of the index finger. Awantibos differ from pottos by the 

 structure of the hand, the fuller development of the cheek-teeth, the absence of a 

 projecting ridge on the skull above the aperture of the ear, and of projecting 

 processes on the upper surface of the vertebrae of the neck. In the pottos, which 

 possess such processes, these project through the skin so as to form a series of 

 knobs or tubercles of bone down the middle of the back of the neck. 



The Congo potto (P. batesi) is intermediate in size between the other two 

 western species, and is also of a richer and more rufous tone of colouring, the 

 tint of its fur being almost that of red mahogany. A third species, P. ibeanus, 

 inhabits Uganda, and is of particular interest as demonstrating that the group 

 extends right through the equatorial forest-zone, instead of being restricted, as was 

 long supposed to be the case, to the west coast. The Congo awantibo (A. aureus) 

 differs from the Old Calabar species by its smaller size, still shorter tail, in which 

 the terminal hairs are stiff and closely pressed together, and the bright golden 

 colour of the fur, which has no black tips to the hairs. 



Both pottos and awantibos lead a completely arboreal and nocturnal existence, 

 sleeping during the day curled up into the shape of a ball, with their heads buried 

 between their arms. These weird creatures appear to be the African repre- 

 sentatives of the lorises, or slow-lemurs, of India and the Malay countries. 



Another group of lemur-like animals — also popularly known as 

 sloths — restricted to the forest-regions of Africa are the galagos, all 

 of which are comparatively small creatures, some being no larger than rats. They 

 are easily recognised by their large and naked ears being capable of folding, so as 

 to lie quite close to the sides of the head. Their soft and thick fur is either grey 

 or brownish ; and they have the curious habit of sitting up on their hind-quarters 

 with their arms extended at right angles to the body in the attitude of a man who 

 is " buffeting " in order to warm himself. 



When on the ground, galagos sit erect and progress by leaps, but never walk. 

 They are stated to resemble the Malagasy mouse-lemurs in their habit of making 

 nests in the forks of trees, this being especially the case with the smaller kinds, 

 several individuals of which frequently occupy one nest at the same time. 



The great galago (Galago crassicaudata), which inhabits the lower Zambesi 

 valley and the east coast generally as far as the 24th degree of S. latitude, is of 

 the appi*oximate size of an ordinary cat, and of a uniform brown colour. It 



