biology

Slow loris

Slow loris is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Slow loris rather than just read about it. In short: Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus Nycticebus. Found in Southeast Asia and nearby areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the west to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines in the east, and from Yunnan province in China in the north to the island of Java in the south.

Key takeaways

Slow loris belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Slow loris to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Slow loris from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus Nycticebus. Found in Southeast Asia and nearby areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the west to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines in the east, and from Yunnan province in China in the north to the island of Java in the south. Although many previous classifications recognized as few as a single all-inclusive species, there are now at least eight that are considered valid: the Sunda slow loris (N. coucang), Bengal slow loris (N. bengalensis), Javan slow loris (N. javanicus), Philippine slow loris (N. menagensis), Bangka slow loris (N. bancanus), Bornean slow loris (N. borneanus), Kayan River slow loris (N. kayan) and Sumatran slow loris (N. hilleri). A ninth species, the pygmy slow loris (X. pygmaeus), was recently moved to the new genus Xanthonycticebus. After the pygmy slow loris, the group's closest relatives are the slender lorises of southern India and Sri Lanka. Their next closest relatives are the African lorisids, the pottos, false pottos, and angwantibos. They are less closely related to the remaining lorisoids (the various types of galago), and more distantly to 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, a 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 torso is long and flexible, 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 trait rare among mammals and unique among the primates. The toxin is obtained by licking a sweat gland on their arm, and the secretion is activated by mixing with saliva. Their toxic bite, once thought to be primarily a deterrent to predators, has been discovered to be primarily used in disputes within the species. The secretion from the arm contains a chemical related to cat allergen, but may be augmented by secondary toxins from the diet in wild individuals. Slow lorises move slowly and deliberately, making little or no noise, and when threatened, they stop moving and remain motionless. Their only documented predators—apart from humans—include snakes, changeable hawk-eagles and orangutans, although cats, viverrids and sun bears are suspected. Little is known about their social structure, but they are known to communicate by scent marking. Males are highly territorial. Slow lorises reproduce slowly, and the infants are initially parked on branches or carried by either parent. They are omnivores, eating small animals, fruit, tree gum, and other vegetation. Each of the slow loris species that had been identified prior to 2012 is listed as either "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. The three newest species are yet to be evaluated, but they arise from (and further reduce the ranks of) what was thought to be a single "vulnerable" species. All four of these are expected to be listed with at least the same, if not a higher-risk, conservation status. All slow lorises are threatened by the wildlife trade and habitat loss. Their habitat is rapidly disappearing and becoming fragmented, making it nearly impossible for slow lorises to disperse between forest fragments; unsustainable demand from the exotic pet trade and from traditional medicine has been the greatest cause for their decline.

Taxonomy and systematics Although many previous classifications recognized as few as a single all-inclusive species, there are now at least eight that are considered valid:

Other than the pygmy slow loris in sister genus Xanthonycticebus, the group's closest relatives are the slender lorises of southern India and Sri Lanka. Their next closest relatives are the African lorisids, the pottos, false pottos, and angwantibos. They are less closely related to the remaining lorisoids (the various types of galago), and more distantly to the lemurs of Madagascar. Their evolutionary history is uncertain since their fossil record is patchy and molecular clock studies have given inconsistent results.

Evolutionary history

Slow lorises (genus Nycticebus) are strepsirrhine primates and are related to other living lorisoids, such as the pygmy slow loris (Xanthonycticebus), slender lorises (Loris), pottos (Perodicticus), false pottos (Pseudopotto), angwantibos (Arctocebus), and galagos (family Galagidae), and to the lemurs of Madagascar. They are most closely related to the pygmy slow loris, followed by the slender lorises of South Asia, the angwantibos, pottos and false pottos of Central and West Africa. Lorisoids are thought to have evolved in Africa, where most living species occur; later, one group may have migrated to Asia and evolved into the slender and slow lorises of today. Lorises first appear in the Asian fossil record in the Miocene, with records in Thailand around 18 million years ago (mya) and in Pakistan 16 mya. The Thai record is based on a single tooth that most closely resembles living slow lorises and that is tentatively classified as a species of Nycticebus. The species is named ? Nycticebus linglom, using open nomenclature (the preceding "?" indicates the tentative nature of the assignment). Several lorises are found in the Siwalik deposits of Pakistan, including Nycticeboides and Microloris; they date from 16 to 8 mya Most are small, but an unnamed form dating to 15–16 mya is comparable in size to the largest living slow lorises. Molecular clock analysis suggests that slow lorises may have started evolving into distinct species about 10 mya. They are thought to have reached the islands of Sundaland when the Sunda Shelf was exposed at times of low sea level, creating a land bridge between the mainland and islands off the coast of Southeast Asia.

Discovery and taxonomy

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Slow loris

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Slow loris claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Slow loris before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Slow loris ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Slow loris

In research: Slow loris appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Slow loris in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Slow loris is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fauna listed on CITES Appendix I, Primates of Southeast Asia, Slow lorises, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Slow loris outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Slow loris in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Slow loris means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Slow loris out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Slow loris in simple terms?

Why does Slow loris matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Slow loris?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Slow loris.