Book Description

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 30. Chapters: Platypus, Slow loris, Sunda slow loris, Bengal slow loris, Bornean slow loris, Javan slow loris, Northern Short-tailed Shrew, Hispaniolan Solenodon, European Mole, Eurasian Water Shrew, Cuban Solenodon, Pygmy slow loris, Southern Short-tailed Shrew, Marcano's Solenodon, Elliot's Short-tailed Shrew, Giant Solenodon. Excerpt: Slow lorises are a group of five species of strepsirrhine primates which make up the genus Nycticebus. Found in South and Southeast Asia, they range from Northeast India in the west to the Philippines in the east, and from the Yunnan province in China in the north to the island of Java in the south. Although many previous classifications recognized fewer species, five are now considered valid: the Sunda slow loris (N. coucang), Bengal slow loris (N. bengalensis), pygmy slow loris (N. pygmaeus), Javan slow loris (N. javanicus), and Bornean slow loris (N. menagensis). The group's closest relatives are other lorisids, such as slender lorises, pottos, false pottos, and angwantibos. They are also closely related to the remaining lorisiforms (the various types of galago), as well as the lemurs of Madagascar. Their evolutionary history is uncertain since their fossil record is patchy and molecular clock studies have given inconsistent results. Slow lorises have a round head, narrow snout, large eyes, and a variety of distinctive coloration patterns that are species-dependent. Their arms and legs are nearly equal in length, and their trunk is long, allowing them to twist and extend to nearby branches. The hands and feet of slow lorises have several adaptations that give them a pincer-like grip and enable them to grasp branches for long periods of time. Slow lorises have a toxic bite, a rare trait among mammals. The toxin is produced by licking a gland on their arm, and the secretion mixes with its...