Potto Gibbon

Maximum longevity: 26.8 years (captivity) Observations: Maximum longevity has been reported as 26.8 years (Cowgill et al. 1989), which is possible. One captive specimen lived 26.3 years (Richard Weigl 2005).

There are no known adverse effects P. potto on humans.

The main anti-predator strategy for pottos is crypsis. Cryptic behavior in pottos includes nocturnal activity, small body size, cryptic coloration, using little vocal communication, maintaining small group sizes, possessing the ability to remain immobile for extended periods of time without fatigue (using retia mirabilia), and using slow, steady, and silent locomotion. They usually stay hidden in dense vegetation so as to not be detected by predators. If confronted by a predator, they will exhibit their defense posture which consists of grasping a branch with all four limbs, tucking the head down below their shoulders between the forelimbs, arching the back, and presenting the scapular shield. They will then bare the teeth and repeatedly bite the arboreal support they are grasping. If the predator does not retreat, the potto will then charge forward, trying to knock the predator off the branch. In extreme danger, the animal will let go of its branch and fall to the ground. Perodictus potto is one of the few nocturnal prosimians that do not use leaping to escape from predators. When parked infants are left alone by their mothers, the mother will apply a salivary liquid to her offspring by grooming it with her tooth comb. This liquid applied to the infant repels predators, and it is thought that it may possess some kind of toxin. This toxic or noxious secretion may also be used to protect adults from predation. Known predators of pottos are African palm civets (Nandinia binotata), although these civets are primarily frugivorous.

Known Predators:

• African palm civets (Nandinia binotata)

Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic

Pottos are sexually monomorphic. Pottos have long, slender bodies and limbs with forelimbs and hindlimbs of nearly equal length. They have large eyes and small, round ears that lack fur. Their coat is dense and varies from shades of brown to grey. They also possess features found in other living strepsirrhines such as a moist nose, dental comb, and a toilet claw. With the exception of the sharpened toilet claw on the reduced second digit of the hind feet, all other nails are flattened. The index finger is vestigial. The reduced second digits on the hands and feet and the opposable pollex and hallux create an excellent grip on arboreal supports. Other adaptations for prolonged grip include highly flexible wrist and ankle joints and the presence of vascular bundles in the limb vessels that allow blood circulation to contracted muscles while the animal is immobile (retia mirabilia). Pottos also possess a “scapular shield” consisting of elongated spines of the cervical vertebrae that extend above the contour of the animal’s body. The spines are covered by thick skin and fur. Patches of vibrissae are also dispersed in this area of the fur. The “scapular shield” area is believed to function in defense against predators and other pottos, and possibly to stimulate genital secretions in mates. Adult weights range from 600 to 1600 g, with smaller pottos occupying the warmer, low elevation habitats and larger pottos occupying the cooler, high elevation habitats within their range (Bergmann’s rule). Head and body measurements range from 305 to 390 mm with a tail length of 37 to 100 mm. Throughout their range, pottos vary regionally in body mass, body size, pelage, and color of eyeshine.

Range mass: 600 to 1600 g.

Range length: 305 to 390 mm.

Average basal metabolic rate: 356 cm3.O2/g/hr.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike

Average basal metabolic rate: 1.942 W.

Information on the lifespan of pottos in the wild is lacking, but captive individuals have been recorded to live up to 26 years of age.

Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 26 (high) years.

Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: captivity: 22.0 years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 15.0 years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 22.0 years.

Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: captivity: 26.0 years.

Pottos are found in areas of thick rainforest vegetation. They can live in a variety of habitats from coastal and lowland forest to mid-altitude montane forest and can inhabit primary or secondary forest growth. They occupy forest from sea level to 2089 m elevation. Normally pottos are found in trees that are 5 to 30 m tall.

Range elevation: 0 to 2089 m.

Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest

The range of Perodicticus potto stretches across equatorial Africa in tropical rainforests from Gambia and Senegal to western Kenya.

Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )

Pottos are primarily frugivorous, but they also commonly eat animal prey and plant gums. Because there is seasonal variation in food availability, gums are generally consumed in dry seasons, while animal prey and fruits are more readily available during wet seasons. Pottos eat fruits of the genera Ficus, Musanga, Myrianthus, Parinari, Pseudospondias, and Uapaca. They generally eat slow-moving arthropods or insects that other animals find unpalatable such as ants, foul-smelling beetles, caterpillars with irritant spines, poisonous millipedes, and spiders. They also eat snails, slugs, eggs, fungi, and insect larvae. Occasionally they will kill small vertebrate prey, such as bats or birds. Although pottos compete with many other species in the same niche for food (such as bush babies), they have adapted to eating foods that other animals leave behind such as unpalatable insects. They also have developed comparatively strong jaws for their size to eat larger, tougher fruits and large, stale chunks of plant gum. Pottos locate insects by scent and capture them with a rapid grab with their hands or mouths. Their reduced index fingers help them grasp and capture prey. Pottos have a highly expandable stomach, allowing them to eat large quantities of food and hold up to 8 percent of their body weight. This reduces the chance of predation by allowing them to eat quickly in fruiting trees with sparse vegetation, then retreat to trees with dense foliage to digest and rest.

Animal Foods: birds; mammals; eggs; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; mollusks

Plant Foods: fruit; sap or other plant fluids

Other Foods: fungus

Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore ); omnivore

As frugivores, pottos are instrumental in seed dispersal. They are also a source of prey for their predators.

Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds

Pottos are hunted for their meat by humans, and are occasionally taken for the pet trade. Humans also benefit from seed dispersal by pottos.

Positive Impacts: pet trade ; food

The main threats to potto survival in the wild are predation, deforestation, and human hunting. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species considers pottos “Lower Risk/Least Concern” and they are listed under CITES Appendices II and III. However, there are few studies that have effectively documented potto population size. Pottos (and other nocturnal prosimians) are impacted more severely than other arboreal primates by deforestation and human development because forests are usually cleared during the day while pottos are asleep in the trees. Due to their slow locomotion and their tendency to freeze when threatened, they are easily burned or chopped down with the trees.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix ii; appendix iii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Pottos use chemical cues extensively to communicate. They leave urine trails and secretions from glands under the tail on branches to mark territory and communicate information on their reproductive state. They use a toxic or noxious glandular secretion to deter predators. Pottos have a distinct odor that some observers have called "curry-like." They have several vocalizations, the most common being a female contact call to young that sounds like "psic." Pottos have excellent vision in low light in order to navigate and find food at night.

Communication Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical

Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical

Males have home ranges that overlap those of several females, suggesting pottos are polygynous or promiscuous. When male and female pottos meet they may perform courting rituals that involve licking, mutual grooming with claws and teeth and scent-marking each other. These rituals are usually performed while both are hanging upside down from a branch.

Mating System: polygynous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Breeding season varies with region in pottos. Pottos from the central part of their range give birth between August and January, so that the time of greatest fruit abundance occurs during weaning. The duration of the ovarian cycle in females is 37 to 39 days, but the duration of sexual receptivity is not known. One offspring is born each year in breeding females after a gestation period of 193 to 205 days. At birth, pottos weigh between 30 and 52 g. Offspring are generally weaned at 120 to 180 days. Pottos reach adult size and weight at 8 to 14 months old, and become sexually mature at 18 months. Infant pottos will initially grow at a rate of 3.19 grams per day.

Breeding interval: Pottos breed once yearly.

Breeding season: Breeding can occur throughout the year and varies regionally. Births tend to be clustered at times when greatest fruit abundance will coincide with the time of weaning.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Range gestation period: 193 to 205 days.

Average gestation period: 197 days.

Range weaning age: 120 to 180 days.

Range time to independence: 6 to 8 months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 18 months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 18 months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous

Average birth mass: 43.8 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 547 days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 547 days.

Infants are altricial at birth, but are comparatively well-developed when compared to other primates because they have to climb to the mother’s belly and cling to her fur without any maternal handling. Offspring cling to their mother’s fur for the first 3 to 8 days and are rarely carried. As the infant grows, the mother will “park” the infant by leaving it hanging on a hidden tree or branch at night while she forages. The infant nurses during the day while the mother sleeps. At 3 to 4 months of age offspring will accompany the mother during foraging by riding on her back or following behind her. Offspring learn how to feed by grabbing food and prey items from their mother, and examining it with a head-cocking behavior before consumption. Male offspring will sleep with their mothers until they disperse at 6 months old. Females sleep with their mothers until they are 8 months old, and then will inherit part of their mother’s home range.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female); post-independence association with parents; extended period of juvenile learning; inherits maternal/paternal territory

The potto generally lives and forages in trees at heights of between 5 and 30 metres, spending the day sleeping curled in the foliage (5). The diet shows distinct seasonal variation, comprising mainly fruits, as well as insects, snails and even small vertebrates, and gums during drier periods (2) (3) (5). Eggs and fungi may also be taken (2). Pottos are mainly solitary, though they may show some degree of sociality (1) (5) (12). Both sexes maintain territories, which are scent-marked as a means of passing on information to other pottos. The territory of the male often overlaps those of several females (2) (3) (5). Females usually give birth to a single infant each year, after a gestation of about 180 to 205 days (1) (5) (6). The young potto is born white or pale cream (8) and is carried on the female's belly or left hidden on a branch until it is weaned at about four to five months (5) (6). Pottos reach sexual maturity at between 9 to 18 months (5) (8) and may live for up to 11 years in the wild, or even to 26 years in captivity (6) (7). Young males disperse when mature, while young females usually share parts of the adult female's range (2) (5).

The potto is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that international trade in pottos should be carefully monitored and controlled (4). It is also protected under Class B of the African Convention, which only allows it to be hunted, killed or captured with special authorisation (14), and it occurs in many protected areas throughout its range (1). A priority for potto conservation is to determine the range, abundance and conservation status of P. p. stockleyi, which is likely to exist only at low densities or have a highly localised distribution, or may even already be extinct (11).

The nocturnal, tree-dwelling potto is a fairly compact and robust primate, with a dense woolly coat and a tail that, while relatively short, is longer than that of other members of the Loridae family (lorises and pottos) (3) (5) (6). Coat colour varies from reddish brown to blackish or brownish grey, slightly lighter on the underparts (3) (5) (7), while young adults may have silvery-grey guard hairs on the back and a black 'mantle' on the shoulders (8). The snout is slender but short (6) (8) and, like other Loridae, the head is round, with small, rounded ears and large eyes which give good night vision (3) (5) (6). A unique feature of the potto is the bony processes that project from the neck vertebrae between the shoulder blades, forming a spiny 'shield' on the neck, covered in a layer of highly sensitive skin and thick fur (3) (5) (7). The exact function of this is debated; it may help protect the potto against predators while it forages with its head down, or may play a role in social behaviour, being highly sensitive to touch (3) (5). Pottos have a powerful grasp, with pincer-like hands and feet that have a specialised arrangement of blood vessels, allowing the potto to maintain its grip for long periods of time (3) (5) (7), a perfect adaptation for life in the trees. Pottos usually climb with a slow, deliberate movement, rather than leaping or jumping (5) (9). To aid grip, the index finger is reduced to a mere knob, the large thumb is opposable to the other toes, and the wrist and ankle joints are highly mobile (5) (7) (9). All the digits have nails except the second digit of each foot, which possesses a 'toilet claw', used in grooming (3) (7) (8). A comb-like arrangement of teeth in the lower jaw also plays an important role in grooming, and a special cartilaginous 'brush' on the underside of the tongue fits between these teeth, serving to clean out hair and particles (7).

Inhabiting lowland, swamp and montane forest, the potto is most common in secondary forest and along forest margins, and is also found in primary forest and even in disturbed forest near human settlements (1) (2). Pottos may also venture out into isolated trees in savanna or cultivated areas (8).

The potto has a wide distribution across the tropical forest belt of western, central and eastern Africa, from Sierra Leone and Guinea east to Kenya, at elevations of 600 to 2,300 metres (1) (2) (10). P. p. potto occurs in West Africa from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Nigeria, P. p. ibeanus to the south of the Ubangi River and north of the Congo River in Democratic Republic of the Congo, and eastwards to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and southwest Kenya, and P. p. edwardsi from the Niger River in Nigeria south to northern Angola and eastwards, south of the Congo River, through Democratic Republic of the Congo (1) (10) (11). P. p. stockleyi is known only from Mount Kenya, at an elevation of 1,830 metres (1) (11).

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1), and listed on Appendix II of CITES (4). Four subspecies are currently recognised: Perodicticus potto potto (western potto), Perodicticus potto ibeanus (eastern potto) and Perodicticus potto edwardsi (central potto) are classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1), while Perodicticus potto stockleyi (Mount Kenya potto) is a recently described subspecies known only from a single specimen and as such is classified as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The potto's tree-dwelling, nocturnal and secretive lifestyle may help protect it from hunting, and traps set for other animals are not usually a threat, as the potto prefers to stay high in the trees rather than descend to the ground (10). However, hunting for food does occur in some areas (6) (10) (13) and pottos are also occasionally electrocuted on electricity cables (10). Despite this, the potto remains widespread, even in disturbed and secondary forest, and is not thought to be undergoing large population declines (1). However, local declines may be taking place due to habitat loss, as a result of logging and intensive agriculture (1) (10). Despite its ability to survive in disturbed areas, the potto cannot survive in habitats completely devoid of trees (13).

The West African potto (Perodicticus potto) is a species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primate. It is found in tropical West Africa. It is also known as Bosman's potto, after Willem Bosman, who described the species in 1704. It is the type species of the genus Perodicticus.