Lorises: the endangered primates of Southeast Asia

Today we are going to see the lories, these fascinating

primates

are small nocturnal mammals that live in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, but unfortunately many of them are in high danger of extinction due to deforestation, the pet trade and their use in medicines. traditional for those interested. a document in the description with notable research works that I use for this video along with details of the sources of the images used. Lorises are in the order of

primates

. They are one of the first divergences in the order and are one of the least related to primates.

You're probably thinking about going over a simplified philology of the order in which you start with the Laura sodia super family which contains the

lorises

that we'll look at today, as well as the gigos, their closest relative being the lemmas, and the lorid super family, these long tails. Primates have around 100 species, but they are only found in Madagascar. An interesting similarity between lemurs and

lorises

is that they are the only animals with wet noses similar to those of a cat or dog. All other promats are dry like humans. The next super family is less close. related, but are the cups in Tazia cups are long-fingered, large-eyed aborial primates found only on the islands of Southeast Asia.

The lemur and bises cups are sometimes called prosimians because of their shared characteristics that are more primitive than the other primates that are called the apes proon is a group known as grade rather than being a clay the difference is that a clay is phylogenetic by which must contain all descendants of their most recent common ancestor a grade however is a term used to group animals according to their appearance they use morphology rather than phenetics, so prian is a grave that, to be covered with clay, would also have to include all monkeys and apes, since the most recent common ancestor of lorises and taras is the same one from which all other primates also descend from The lemmas, lorises and galagos form their own clay, although they share a recent ancestor more common with each other than with any other primate.

The first two groups of simeons are the two lineages of monkeys. The first is the P plini or the new one. world monkey these are the monkeys found in the Americas such as spider monkeys Capuchin monkeys Al maret and Tamarindo next Clay are the old world monkeys in the super family copy these are found in Africa and Asia and include things like baboons maacs vervet monkeys and baboons The next family is Hob Baday or the Gibbons. These large primates live in the tropical forests of Bangladesh, India, China and Indonesia. They are sometimes called lesser apes and are known to use a unique method of swinging through trees called brachiation, where they only use their arms to move from branch to branch, some other primates use a modified version of this, such as the spider monkeys that also use their tail as a fitum, but gibbons are the only group that uses true brachiation.

The last family of primates is the human family, which contains the great apes, the orangutans. gorillas bonuses chimpanzees and humans some may not be familiar with this group, but they are known for their intelligence in the use of tools and larger primates and other primates, although the primate fog is extremely interesting, it's time to go back to the subject of today's video, Laura. Sordia has two families galiga or the galagos and lisad day or the lorisas galagos sometimes called bush babies or nagap are small nocturnal primates found in sub-Saharan Africa. There are six living genera of galagos with around 20 species between them.

Liss is made up of two subfamilies. ptis has two genera containing the two species of angan tibo and the three species of potho. They are all found in Africa and are distinguished by their vestigial tail and very short index finger that allows them to grip branches more firmly. Their large eyes give them stereoscopic vision that allows them to judge distance. This is quite common in aboral animals, as it allows them to judge the distance between branches when climbing. The other subfamily is Lauren, sometimes called Liss, which contains the lories like the other closely related primates. They are aboral and nocturnal. but unlike them they are not Africans, but rather they founded India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Another difference between lorises and galagos is that lorises do not jump, but rather prefer to climb between different branches. An easily noticeable feature to distinguish them from other primates is their dark fur. around their large eyes that contrasts markedly with the lighter colors of the rest of their face, while they are mostly insectivores, some species supplement this diet with bird eggs, small invertebrates, fruits, gums, leaves and slugs. It used to be believed that all lorises move very slowly. a very methodical method of climbing, whilst this appears to be true for some species, more recently others have been observed to move much faster than previously thought, however all species will freeze when they detect a predator.

This method of defense against predators is only effective if they are hidden by the dense forests in which they live, there are three genera and Lauren, the first is Loris, which contains the slender lorises, there are only two species of these, the gray slender laus and The red slender lus, as their name suggests, are distinguished from the other lus by having a slimmer build with thin, elongated limbs, there are other subtle differences, such as their snout being more pointed and having larger eyes and ears. The taxonomy of slender lorises has been questioned for some time in the early 20th century.

Slender lorises were thought to have three, four, or even more separate species. Osman Hill in 1953 firmly placed them as a single species with six different subspecies. The research conducted in this group was conducted on captive species and only one research paper was published before the 1990s. About wild lorises The current understanding of two species was first published by Colin Groves in 1998 The existence of two species was later confirmed with genetic testing One effect of this taxonomic confusion is that it means that little is known about any of the slender lorises , this is because in most cases it is impossible to determine which species were investigated in historical studies, since most of this research was conducted on captive individuals.

It is also less reliable than studying their behavior in the wild. Many more studies were done in the 21st century, but compared to most primates. Relatively little is still known about them. The gray slender loris. Loris laranas is the most common of the slender lorises, but is still considered near threatened by the IUCN. Found in India and Sri Lanka in the tropical and subtropical forests of the area with no apparent preference between moist forests, dry forests or Montaine cloud forests, it used to be divided into four different subspecies, but in 2020 nman Al used genetics to determine that there was not enough evidence to support the existence of these subspecies, so they are now considered all.

I mention this mainly because the different subspecies are still commonly mentioned online and list I and red even have separate pages for some of them as a result of nanal's research. Such distinctions are arbitrary and do not represent populations other than the thin gray. Laurus are nocturnal and emerge from their shelters and tree cavities to search for food at dusk. They are mostly solitary as they feed alone, but their preferred food is resting in family groups of up to seven insects, but they will supplement this with fruits, flowers and small vertebrates. Like mice and geckos, males have a larger home range than females and are more aggressive toward other males who are not in their sleeping area.

Females rarely encounter other lorises, so they have little interaction with them outside of mothers and daughters roosting together, interestingly they are the males. that tend to their young during the day can communicate with a variety of noises that mark scents and can also use visual signals up to 20 M away lorises are promiscuous and the males compete to breed a single female they have two breeding seasons in a year, generally in April to June and then from October to December, despite this, females can only reproduce once a year, gestation lasts 5 and a half months and they frequently have two young at a time.

This is a fairly slow reproduction strategy for small grazes with grzly and theories that it has the lowest reproduction rate for any primate weighing less than 500 G. I mentioned above that it is considered near threatened. This has increased since it was last assessed in 2008, when it was classified as being of least concern. This increase in threat classification is due to the numerous threats it faces in its native habitat largely due to habitat loss due to deforestation and hunting by humans. It is suspected that its total population has decreased by between 20 and 25% in its last generations. The other species of Slender Loris is Loris tter grus or The red slender loris is endemic to Sri Lanka and is only found in the southwestern part of the country.

It is rarer than the other slender lorises. It is classified as

endangered

and only between 2,000 and 2,250 individuals remain in the wild. This is almost exclusively due to deforestation. Since Sri Lanka lost 97% of its forest cover in 2003, the Fred slender loris population was thought to have declined by 80% in the last 200 years. In addition to deforestation, they are also sometimes hunted or trapped for supposed use in traditional activities. medicines to cure various eye ailments, they are also sometimes caught for sale in the pet trade, but we will look at this in more detail with some of the other lus species.

Slender red lorises have reddish-brown fur on their back, which is where they get their common name. Its underside is a smoky whitish gray. It is a tiny primate that reaches a length of 18 to 25 cm or 7 to 10 inches and weighs 85 to 370 G or 3 to 13 O. Its face has darker colors around the eyes like that of all lorises, but It also has a noticeable white stripe down the center of its face. Its movements differ from those of the slim gray, as it moves much faster in trees. It also prefers lowland tropical forests, as opposed to the more general habitat of the slender gray lurus.

Slender red lusas are also much more social, and in fact are one of the most sociable nocturnal primates. It forms small social groups containing both sexes and also young during the day. They sleep in these groups on tree branches. They also socialize, groom each other, and play-wrestle at night. They still hunt individually. Red ashes are mostly insect devoris, but they also eat eggs, berries, leaves, buds, and occasionally small vertebrates such as geckos and other lizards. They will consume their prey whole, including bones and scales, allowing them to maximize their protein intake. Curiously, the plant they eat the most.

It is often humala Laura foia a species only found in Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Corala. What's interesting about this is that this species is known to have a mutualistic relationship with ants, giving the lus an easy source of both plant matter and female insect prey. They are dominant in groups of thin red parrots, such as the great lorus, they can mate twice a year, they mate hanging upside down on branches and in captivity they do not mate at all, there are no branches available, the females give birth to 1 or two young that feed on it.

For 6 to 7 months, now that we have covered the two slender lorises, let's move on to the clade containing the remaining two genera. One thing that differentiates them from the slender lusos is that some species have been shown to be venomous, these are one of the few mammals with venom along with the platypus and some species of shrew, given their turbulent taxonomic history it is difficult to say which species are venomous. and if any are not, but I could not find any record of poison in The slender lorises we have been. Looking at it, it appears to be restricted to this clay, at least three of these species are confirmed poisonous, but the others are likely to be as well, as venom has been demonstrated in the pygmy slus, which is the species most distantly related to this clay.

It is strongly suggested that all members of this group should have venom unless it has subsequently been lost in some species. Slow's venom closely resembles the protein found in cat saliva that causes allergies in some humans. This ven is inactive in its natural state but becomes dangerous when combined with oil, they secrete glands in their arms, their defensive posture involves raising their arms above their head, which brings the sebaceous gland closer to their mouth so they can activate quickly the poison if they need it. This means they have one of only two. Two-step venom delivery systems known in any animal, unlike snakes, scorpions or evenPlatypuses that have fangs, stingers, or spurs to deliver venom quickly and efficiently in a single step, making Slow's venom extremely unique and probably not comparable to other venomous animals.

It is deadly to small vertebrates that occasionally eat it, but in humans and other larger mammals the sting is intensely painful, takes a long time to heal, and leaves the victim with severe scarring and hair loss. In extreme cases, it can cause an allergic reaction leading to anaphylaxis. and death slow lorises are also known to have a dental structure known as a tooth, while the structure is believed to be useful for both feeding and grooming. It has been noted to also be a highly effective venom delivery system. It has grooves in the comb that allow poisonous liquid to flow through it and out of its mouth.

Despite being an effective defense, this poison appears to have evolved for use and disputes with other slow lorises and also against parasites. Several studies looking at slow lis venom have come up with a surprising reason for Venom's evolution: they appear to be imitating snakes or, more specifically, the Spectacled Cobra, as you can see in these images, the black stripe on the slus of Java looks a lot like the back of a Spectacled Cobra when viewed from above, while the facial markings. Bingo slus look like a cobra's hood, however, the similarities go far beyond similar brands. I mentioned their defensive posture earlier, where they put their arms above their head, particularly while doing this they also hiss, both the posture and hissing are reminiscent of a snake about to strike.

SL lorises even have more vertebrae in their spines. than other mammals and therefore perform snake-like movements in addition to their venom, these behaviors along with their physical appearance make their similarities to snakes too great to ignore, strongly suggesting that they have evolved to mimic cobras, possibly to discourage predators from continuing to look at the remaining ones. species, the first is the only member of its genus, this is Zenthon nius pigmus or the pygmy slus, like all slus is, it was originally considered a subspecies of the slus, it was elevated to its own species in 1998, but was not included in his own gender. until 2022, as expected given their name, are very small for a primate that only grows between 19 and 23 cm or 7 1/2 and 9 inches.

They usually feed alone, but can be found in groups of up to four. They feed on trees. sap and gum fruits and vertebrates flowers fungi bamboo and occasionally small vertebrates such as lizards and bats males share a home range with one or two females and their young male rangers can have up to 24 hectares, while female rangers can have up to 12 acres where they will sleep among thick vegetation high in the treetops, at least 8.5 to 28 feet above the ground, pikmy slow lorises give birth to two young at a time, usually giving birth during the winter. Pym sles are

endangered

and are found in Vietnam, Cambodia, Los Angeles and southern China. threatened due to deforestation, but can live in a variety of forest types, including evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, secondary forests, and bamboo thickets.

It is also highly threatened due to its use in traditional medicines and the pet trade. I guess this is as good a place as any. to observe the slow lis pet trade, as the pygmy slow lis is believed to be the most common species kept as pets, this is a terrible practice, apart from the impact on wild slow lis populations, which are already in serious danger of extinction, as you will now know by observing it. This video slow lorises are poisonous, although you might think this would make it a less than ideal pit, the solution is quite simple, when you catch them you cut their teeth with nail clippers, wire cutters or pliers, this is It is done without anesthesia, so the animals are in great pain and many die during the procedure due to infection, blood loss or possibly shock, then are transported to overcrowded, poorly ventilated markets and cages.

It is estimated that between 30 and 90% die during transport. Rescued lorises are often found in cages alongside lorises. that have died during transportation and if you think about it, at least once they are bought from the market they will be fine, then there will be more bad news to come. Most people don't know how to care for a Slow Lis, it is bought like a hole. Because it's cute and they don't understand what it requires or what its behaviors are, they are often kept in well-lit rooms, which is incredibly painful for a nocturnal animal. There are videos online of people tickling the slow lorises in the video you are raising. arms, leading people to believe that he is enjoying this treatment if you have been paying attention, however, you will know that a slow lus raising his arms is a defensive posture so that he can access his poison, of course, if He's missing teeth, he can't bite. defend herself but this behavior still shows that poor Lis is terrified as humans interpret her as cute while I normally don't do this.

I will leave a link in the description to international animal rescue an organization that rescues, rehabilitates and releases. hundreds of slow lorises every year, sometimes it doesn't seem like there's much we can do other than not buy a slow loris ourselves, but donating to organizations like this can be a huge help, just to be clear, I haven't been paid to promote them . but when it comes to topics like this, I think mentioning organizations like international animal rescue is the ethically responsible thing to do to move past the grim reality that is the illegal pet trade. All remaining lorises belong to the genus of neck deceivers, known colloquially as the slow lorises.

This is by far the largest genus with eight different living species, as I already mentioned all the currently recognized species along with the pigmas. Loris used to be considered a single species with many subspecies, this was split into different species in the 1990s and was confirmed with more recent genetic analyses. I won't mention this with individual species below, as it applies to all of them, but it makes it difficult to know which species older studies were looking at, so many of these species have little knowledge about them. They are stockier than the skinny cousins ​​with shorter limbs, flatter faces and smaller eyes and ears, Nic Deus' philology is a mess so I'm using a simplified philology I took from nman Al in 2020 who used extensive testing of gene IC to create It was the most recent and reliable one I could find, but note that various online sources will not agree on the exact relationships between these species or even whether some of them should be species; only one extinct Loris is known and has been tentatively placed in this genus, this is Nick deas lingom who lived in Thailand during the myos scene about 18 million years ago.

It is only known from a single tooth, so there are not enough fossils to say for sure that it belongs to this genus. The species name lingom. is the Tie word for Lis, the first living species of this genus is Nic Deus javanicus or the Javan slow loris. It is critically endangered and endemic to the western and central parts of the island of Java and Indonesia. It is quite distinctive because of the diamond. shape on its head with a white stripe between the ears and forks towards the eyes and ears. It is less insectivorous than most lorises and prefers to eat lizards and eggs from fruit trees.

They are nocturnal and aboreal and seem to prefer climbing vines and wool. Does it move. through the canopy preferring heights of 3 to 22 m above ground or 9 to 72 feet; however, it will go to ground to cross open areas of disturbed habitat. There are two forms of Javan Lis, although their exact taxonomic status is unclear, as such. They are not officially labeled as subspecies at this time, but they look noticeably different, one sometimes called the ornatus morphotype also having a longer average of 26.8 mm compared to 22 mm for the javanicus morphotype. There are other subtle differences as well, but again it is unclear whether these are different enough to denote them as subspecies.

Next we will see the K and the River slis nectus Kayan. It was elevated to the level of its own species more recently than the others and only split from the Boran Solaris in 2013. Found in the Northern and Central Highlands of the island of Borneo, it was unsurprisingly named after the Cen River. that passes through its territory. It is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. They are distinguished from all other slow lorises, apart from the Boran slis, by their teeth. Lacking the second upper part and the Sizer, it can be distinguished from all other Boran SL lories by its facial markings, for example the dark fur around its eyes is rounded or pointed, but much more importantly it is very distinct from the lighter fur than the rest of its body.

In other Boran species, this feature gradually blends into the surrounding fur, making it a less distinctive feature. The Rivers Slow Lis can has the big toe opposite the other toes, allowing them to grip branches more firmly. The second toe of the hind paw is curved, while all the others are flat, this curved one is used for scratching and grooming, it eats insects, gum tree nectar and fruits, the next three species I have listed as poland, here it is where it is difficult to separate closely related species to determine which of them are most closely related as it is unknown, rather than guessing I have listed them all as separate from each other at the same time, hence the poomi, the first in the Polto is the menu of the Philippines Laris neus, found throughout Borneo, but mainly along the northern and eastern coasts and on some smaller surrounding islands, the IUCN classifies it as vulnerable despite having a reasonably large distribution.

It is believed to be very rare throughout the territory, although historical studies suggested it was common. This is disputed in part because of the taxonomic confusion of all irises, but also because those studies based their findings on secondhand reports and not on direct sightings or captures, even if those studies paint an accurate picture of the Solís populations of Philippines population has plummeted since 2000 studies found a very different reality. Finding from 0.38 animals per kilometer to as few as 0.12 animals per kilometer, which are extremely low numbers, taking the lowest estimate of 0.12 animals per kilometer, you would only be likely to find a single Lis if you search exhaustively in 10 kilometers of forest in the Philippines.

Slow lorises appear to be tolerant of disturbed habitats, they are nocturnal and aboral and are social, often found in groups feeding in the same tree, eat insects, sap and small vertebrates, rarely eat fruit, one male usually breeds with several females and their home range is around 9 hectares, the females give birth to one young each year and care for them for up to 2 years before leaving to find their own territory. Philippine lorises regularly sleep in dense foliage, but they have many sleeping areas throughout their range, so they will only reuse each once a year. Rarely, the Bangas lorus or Banus nius is endemic to Banga Island, which is located off the coast of Samatra.

The IUCN classifies it as critically endangered, but this comes with the notable caveat that it was last seen in 1937, so it is possibly extinct. More studies are required. officially declare it extinct, but it is likely that, if any remain, they are highly fragmented and their population has decreased by more than 80% in the last three generations. This is due to the massive conversion of Banker Island into oil palm plantations, which caused a massive loss. of the habitable area for the species in its native range, given the information about the species it is probably not surprising to learn that little else is known about it, like the other species of slis, it was originally considered the same species as all the others .

Museum specimens. and photographs were studied to differentiate it from the Philippine slus in 2013, elevating it to the level of its own species, it is assumed to have similar traits to closely related species, such as a poisonous sting or eating insects, sap and lizards, the Boran slis or Banus nicus. It is classified as vulnerable by the UCN. It is endemic to southwestern Borneo. It is quite tolerant of disturbed environments, but Borneo has lost a third of its forests in the last 25 years, so this cannot help them increase their population. The other main threat is the pet trade, as we have already mentioned, this is another species that has been little studied and only one study estimated its population in 2011 at only 0.05 animals per hectare, which puts them in a position stillworse than that of the Philippine slis and given their smaller distribution area.

This is not a great sign. I should mention that the study was done before they were recognized as a different species from Philippine Lorises, but it is assumed that they were searching for borian slis given the area they were searching, the only mention of the species I found. that I could find in the literature after its elevation to its own species in 2013, there was a study published in 2021. This study detailed a Boran orangutan capturing and eating a Boran Solaris and was much more focused on the orangutan than the Lis, even Yes A couple of items were lost during the search, which is still not a great record.

Of the three main articles about them, one is their Discovery and the other isn't even about them. Most of the other data I could find on the internet about them detailed the same things that seem to be true for all slow lorises, so I'll move on to the next species that is in the final CL of slow lorises, the Bingle slus nict Deus bengalensis is also sometimes called the northern slus, it is the largest species of lurus reaching lengths of 26 to 38 cm or 10 to 15 inches and weighing 1 to 2.1 kg or 2.2 to 4.6 pounds has a round face with large eyes and thick, woolly fur.

It has venom, but the chemical structure of it is quite different from those found in For other lorises, it is hypothesized that this venom is used to communicate information to other Bengals, such as their age, sex, and social status. The Bengal slis is an important seed disperser throughout its range and is also important prey for several carnivores with which it frequently engages. a behavior that all slus do to some extent, but I have overlooked it so far as it is a minor part of their diet for most species; However, it is a key component of the diet of the Bengal loris SL, which feeds on tree exudates in its In the broadest sense, exudates are the fluid that leaks from a wound, in the case of trees, this will take the form of sap gums, resin and latex, all foods high in carbohydrates despite not having sharp claws, Bingle's slow lus will scrape the plant.

By breaking its surface or making holes in the bark of the trees, the slus will then eat the sap or gum that escapes from the hole in which it is made. This is almost all they eat during the winter, since it is the most abundant food at that time for the rest of the year. the year will complement it with fruits, insects, snails, small birds and lizards. It is endangered but has the largest variety of slora species found in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and southern China. Its classification in danger of extinction is due to the same reason as the other.

Slow species Habitat loss Pet trade and use in traditional medicines Along with the Pygmy Slow Lis, they are one of the most common lorises found in markets. Slow luses are most often used in traditional medicines to help women after childbirth, but are sometimes also used. used to treat stomach AES broken bones and sexually transmitted diseases due to these pressures are now excluded in regions where they used to be common even though they also occur in protected areas throughout their range. This does not protect them from illegal logging and poaching or further fragmentation of the suarin slis Nic habitat.

Deus Hali, as its name suggests, is only found in Samatra, although it is restricted to the northern part of the island, it is endangered and, for whatever reasons you hope, there is believed to have been a 50% reduction in its population in the last three. generations Due to extensive deforestation in Samatra and how common it is in the pet trade, it is difficult to estimate its abundance in the wild. A study conducted in 2007 found a very low abundance of 0.39 per kilometer, but when locals were questioned, they revealed that there were many captured for the tar trade just before the study was carried out, which explains the low density. observed.

Few other studies have attempted to measure their abundance. It has been seen catching insects and eating fruit, but it is generally assumed that its diet also contains basic sin and other slow Lis. Their diet exudes nectar and, occasionally, small vertebrates. This assumption is supported by the morphology of the hidden teeth, but is not confirmed. Behavior observed in nature. They are found in both lowland and montane forests and primary rainforests, as well as in selectively logged forests, suggesting that they can cope with some level of human disturbance. The final species is the Sund slis or the greater slis ni cus cang this is the species into which all solises were originally categorized and this means that its scientific name appears more frequently than others in scientific studies.

It is impossible to be sure what the species refers to, the Su slus is endangered and is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, it is only found in lowland forests and, like the other lorises, is threatened due to deforestation in the pit trade, something that does not seem to be mentioned with other species is an aversion to being active during strong moonlight, their range varies between 2 and 15 hectares and this seems to depend on the type of forest they They inhabit smaller areas and primary rainforest in the wild. Social contact is thought to be rare, but in captivity they can be kept together and demonstrate some social behaviors, such as vocal calls that are unique between individuals.

Exudates such as sep and gum make up 43% of their diet, but the rest is made up of vertebrates, fruit leaves and bird eggs. I hope you enjoyed this video. Lorises are extremely cute and unique primates since they are the only ones with venom. Unfortunately, they are also highly endangered. They are in danger of habitat loss due to deforestation and poaching due to traditional medicines in the pet trade. If these practices continue, they likely won't be around much longer. Thanks for listening and feel free to suggest another group of animals you want me to cover in the comments.