Lorises and Pottos: Lorisidae

Lorises and pottos have short heads covered with hair. Snouts, or nose areas, are small. Their C-shaped ears are close to the scalp, and they have large, round, dark eyes. Arms and legs are long and about equal length. All ten fingers and ten toes have a claw, but the claw is longest on the second toe. This is called a grooming claw, and lorises and pottos use it to comb through and clean their fur. The index finger is quite small compared to the rest of the fingers, and their thumbs and big toes are located far from the other four fingers and toes. When these animals wrap their hands or feet around a tree branch, their grasping hold is very strong, allowing them to hold onto a branch for a long time.

Lorises and pottos are very small animals. The tiniest loris is the gray slender loris. It is only 8.5 inches (21.5 centimeters) long from head to the start of its tail. It weighs only 9 ounces (255 grams). The potto is the largest member of the Lorisidae. Tail length varies in the lorises and the pottos. Some, such as the slender loris, have no tail. Others may have a tail length of up to 2.5 inches (6.5 cm). Their color varies; pottos and lorises can be cream colored, pale brown, grayish brown, reddish brown, orange-brown, or dark brown. Some have mixed fur colors. Some lorises have contrasting markings or striped areas. The color contrast may be especially visible when it forms a ringed area around the large eyes, as it does in the pygmy slow loris.