LEMURID.1- 693 
long thin body, long, angularly bent, slender limbs, and no tail. 
Its habits, according to Mr. W. T. Blanford,! are “very similar 
to those of 
Nyeticebus tardi- 
gradus, except 
that the Slender 
Loris is rather 
quicker in its 
movements, 
though still slow 
in general. Like 
its ally, it is 
purely nocturnal 
and arboreal, 
living upon 
shoots and young | 
leaves, insects, 
birds’ eggs, birds, 
and lizards. It 
is said to be very 
fond of honey or 
syrup. It sleeps 
rolled up in a 
ball with its head between its legs, grasping its perch with its arms.” 
B. Index fingers reduced to a mere tubercle without nail. Both 
the known species are from West Africa. 
Perodicticus.°—A short tail, about a third of the length of the 
trunk. Two or three of the anterior dorsal vertebra have very 
long slender spinous processes which in the living animal project 
beyond the general level of the skin, forming distinct conical pro- 
minences, covered only by an exceedingly thin and naked integu- 
ment. The Potto, P. potto, is one of the oldest known members of 
the lemuroid group, having been described in 1705 by Bosman, 
who met with it in his voyage to Guinea. It was, however, lost 
sight of until 1825, when it was re-discovered in Sierra Leone, and 
fully described by Bennett in 1830 under the name of Perodicticus 
geofroyi. Bennett's generic name has been retained, but the specific 
name bestowed by Gmelin, adopted from Bosman, has been restored. 
It is also found in the Gaboon. It is strictly nocturnal, and slower 
in its movements even than Nycficebus tardigradus, which otherwise 
it much resembles in its habits. 
A second species, the Awantibo (P. calabarensis), rather smaller 
and more delicately made, with smaller hands and feet and rudi- 
mentary tail, constitutes the genus —frefocebus of Gray. It is found 
1 Mammalia of British India, p. 48 (1888). 
2 Bennett, Proc, Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 109. 
Fic. 330,—The Slender Loris (Loris grucilis). Fron. Blanford, 
Mammalia of British India, p. 47. 
