Pygmy slow loris

Pygmy slow loris[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[2]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Lorisidae
Genus:	Nycticebus
Species:	N. pygmaeus
Binomial name
Nycticebus pygmaeus Bonhote, 1907
Pygmy Slow Loris range
Synonyms
intermedius Dao Van Tien, 1960

See also: Conservation of slow lorises

The pygmy slow loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus) is a rare species of loris found in the tropical dry forests of Vietnam, Laos, southern China, and east of the Mekong River in Cambodia. This primate is a nocturnal animal and will eat fruit, insects, small mammals and reptiles, flowers, tree gums, fungi, slugs and snails.^[4]

It is arboreal, crawling on branches, unnoticed as it quietly moves through the thick leaves of the subtropics.^[4]

Adults can grow to around 18–21cm long.^[4]

It mates once every 12–18 months and will have 1–2 offspring after an average gestation period of 190 days. For the first few days, the young loris clings to belly of its mother. After 9 months the baby will be weaned.^[4]

This loris was nearly wiped out during extensive burning, clearing and defoliating of forests in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.^[4]

Like other lorises, the pygmy slow loris has very large eyes due to its nocturnal lifestyle.

References

1. ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 122-123. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3. 
2. ^ Streicher, U., Ngoc Thanh, V., Nadler, T., Timmins, R. J. & Nekaris, A. (2008). Nycticebus pygmaeus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 1 January 2009.
3. ^ UNEP-WCMC. "CITES species database: Nycticebus pygmaeus". UNEP-WCMC Species Database. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/isdb/CITES/Taxonomy/tax-species-result.cfm/isdb/CITES/Taxonomy/tax-species-result.cfm?Genus=Nycticebus&Species=pygmaeus&source=animals&displaylanguage=eng. Retrieved 3 February 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Pygmy slow loris". Bristol Zoo Gardens. http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/pygmy-slow-loris. Retrieved 2006-08-01.