East African potto

East African potto
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	Lorisidae
Genus:	Perodicticus
Species:	P. ibeanus
Binomial name
	Perodicticus ibeanus; Thomas, 1910
Subspecies
	P. i. ibeanus Thomas, 1910 ; P. i. stockleyi Butynski & De Jong, 2007
Synonyms
	Perodicticus potto ibeanus

The East African potto (Perodicticus ibeanus) is a species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primate. It is found in Central and East Africa.

Taxonomy

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the West African potto (Perodicticus potto), but a 2015 study split it into three species, and classified P. ibeanus as a distinct species. It is thought to be the sister species to the Central African potto (Perodicticus ibeanus), from which it diverged during the late Miocene, about 5.5 million years ago.^[2]^[3]

There are two subspecies: the type subspecies P. i. ibeanus and the possibly extinct Mount Kenya potto (P. i. stockleyi), known only from a single specimen collected in 1938.^[1]

Distribution

This species ranges from the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo east to western Kenya. In addition, an isolated subspecies (P. i. stockleyi) is endemic to the slopes of Mount Kenya, making it the easternmost population of any potto.^[1]

Conservation

This species is considered Least Concern by the IUCN Red List and is known to be an adaptable species, being found in both undisturbed and disturbed forests, even near human populations. However, localized declines may be taking place due to deforestation for agriculture. In addition, the Mount Kenya subspecies is thought to be either extinct or very nearly so due to the clearance of most of its habitat, with less than 50 remaining individuals if it is still extant; due to this, it is classified as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) by the IUCN.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d de Jong, Y.A.; Butynski, T.M.; Perkin, A.; Svensson, M. & Pimley, E. (2019). "Perodicticus ibeanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T136875A91996195. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T136875A91996195.en. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
^ Pozzi, Luca; Nekaris, K. Anne-Isola; Perkin, Andrew; Bearder, Simon K.; Pimley, Elizabeth R.; Schulze, Helga; Streicher, Ulrike; Nadler, Tilo; Kitchener, Andrew; Zischler, Hans; Zinner, Dietmar (2015). "Remarkable ancient divergences amongst neglected lorisiform primates". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 175 (3): 661–674. doi:10.1111/zoj.12286. ISSN 1096-3642. PMC 4744660. PMID 26900177.
^ "Perodicticus ibeanus O. Thomas, 1910". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 2021-11-08.