POTTOS. 
233 
The Pottos, or African Slow Lemurs. 
Genus Perodicticus. 
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. 
Bosman’s Potto (Perodicticus potto). 
The true, or Bosman’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 with the joints of the backbone in the neck. The 
the potto asleep (J nat. size). 
