East African Potto

About the East African Potto

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

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. 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.

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... Wikipedia →