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Furry and wide-eyed, lorises and pottos are small, nocturnal primates inhabiting African, Asian and Southeast Asian tropical and subtropical forests. Their likeable appearance, combined with their unusual adaptations – from a marked reduction of the tail to their mostly slow, deliberate locomotion, powerful grasping and, in some species, a venomous bite – has led to a significant rise in research interest in the family Lorisidae over the last decade. Furthermore, lorises in particular have featured frequently in international media largely due to illegal trade, for example as pets. This is the first volume to present a full picture of the breadth of research being undertaken on lorisids to aid future studies as well as conservation efforts. Focusing on five key topics: evolutionary biology, ecomorphology, behavioural ecology, captive management and conservation, Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos is a vital read for graduate students and researchers in primatology, biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, animal behaviour and conservation.
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Overview of Lorises and Pottos
Part I. Evolution, Morphology and Fossil Record:
2. Sluggards and Drunkards? A History of the Discovery and Description of the Afro-Asian Lorisidae
3. What We Know (and Don't Know) about the Fossil Records of Lorisids
4. Outliers: Have Lorisids Moved Beyond Touch?
5. Molecular Advances in Lorisid Taxonomy and Phylogeny
6. The Toothcomb of Karanisia clarki – How does Exudate-Feeding Fit into the Ecology of this Loris-Like Basal Strepsirrhine?
7. The Soft-Tissue Anatomy of the Highly Derived Hand of Perodicticus Relative to the More Generalised Nycticebus
8. Making Scents of Olfactory Sensitivity in Lorises and Pottos
9. Allometric and Phylogenetic Diversity in Lorisiform Orbit Orientation
10. The Evolution of Social Organisation in Lorisiformes
11. Biomechanics of Loris Locomotion
12. What Role did Gum-Feeding Play in the Evolution of the Lorises?
Part II. Ecology and Captive Management:
13. Nutrition of Lorisiformes
14. Seeing in the Dark: Visual Function and Ecology of Lorises and Pottos
15. Thermoregulation in Lorises
16. Home Range, Activity Budgets and Habitat Use in the Bengal Slow Loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) in Bangladesh
17. Behaviour of Pottos and Angwantibos
18. Positional Behaviour and Substrate Preference of Slow Lorises, with a Case Study of Nycticebus
19. Sexual Differences in Feeding and Foraging of Released Philippine Slow Lorises
20. Ranging Patterns of the Pygmy Slow Loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus) in a Mixed Deciduous Forest in Eastern Cambodia
21. Utilising Current and Historical Zoo Records to Provide Insight into the Captive Biology of Rarely Kept Pottos and Angwantibos
22. Mother-Infant Behaviours in Greater Slow Loris (Nycticebus coucang) Dyads Consisting of Mothers Pregnant at Confiscation and their Sanctuary-Born Infants
23. Husbandry and Reproductive Management Recommendations for Captive Lorises and Pottos (Nycticebus, Loris, and Perodicticus)
Part III. Research, Trade and Conservation:
24. Trapping, Collaring and Monitoring the Lorisinae of Asia (Loris, Nycticebus) and Perodicticinae (Arctocebus, Perodicticus) of Africa
25. Evaluation of Field Techniques Used to Assess Populations of Pottos and Lorises
26. Occupancy Modelling as a Method to Study Slender Loris Density
27. Using Accelerometers to Measure Nocturnal Primate Behaviour
28. Distribution and Conservation Status of Slow Lorises in Indo-China
29. Wildlife Trade Research Methods for Lorises and Pottos
30. Online Imagery and Loris Conservation
31. Slow Lorises as Photo Props on Instagram
32. Integrating Science and Puppetry to Inspire Teenagers in Rural Asia to Value Slow Lorises
33. Developing a Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre as a Reaction to the Extensive Illegal Wildlife Trade in Slow Lorises
References
Index
K.A.I. Nekaris is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, where she directs the Nocturnal Primate Research Group and the MSc Primate Conservation. She has conducted fieldwork on lorisids since 1993, and is Director of the Little Fireface Project, using conservation education, ecology and advocacy to conserve nocturnal mammals.
Anne M. Burrows is Professor of Anatomy at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She has been working on evolutionary morphology of lorises and pottos for 20 years, focusing on feeding mechanisms and communication. She is co-editor of The Evolution of Exudativory in Primates (Springer, 2010) and co-author of Primate Communication: A Multimodal Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
"As is made abundantly clear in this volume, and I know well from my own experience, nocturnal primates are never easy to study in the wild; in addition, pottos and lorises are rarely kept in captivity. Nevertheless, the editors have managed to gather together an impressive array of work from over 70 authors, covering a large number of topics ranging from the fossil record of these species to their conservation, through morphology, ecology, trade and many other subjects. In spite of all the information in this book, it also illustrates how much more research is needed on individual species in different field sites to ensure the conservation of these small, elusive, but fascinating, nocturnal creatures."
– Caroline S. Harcourt, Nocturnal Primate Research Group (Oxford Brookes University) and Folia Primatologica
