Angwantibo
Encyclopedia
The angwantibos are the two species of strepsirrhine primate
s that are classified in the Arctocebus genus of the Lorisidae
family. They are also known as golden pottos because of their yellow or golden coloration.
Angwantibos live in tropical Africa
and their range includes Nigeria
, Cameroon
north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Angwantibos grow to a size of 22 to 30 cm, and have almost no tail at all. They only weigh up to 0.5 kg. Their fur is yellow brown to golden in color. Their snout is more pointed than that of the other lorids and this, along with their round ears, gives it the bear-like appearance that lends them their name in German
: Bärenmaki "bear lemur".
Solitary, nocturnal
and arboreal, they prefer the underbrush and the lower layers of the forests. They spend the day hidden in the leaves. Like all lorisids they are characterized by slow movements.
The diet of the angwantibos is predominantly of insects (mostly caterpillars), and occasionally fruits. Owing to their careful movements and their good sense of smell, they can quietly stalk and close-in on their prey and catch it with a lightning-quick movement.
The males mate with all available females whose territory overlaps with theirs. Copulation takes place hanging onto a branch. Gestation lasts 130 days and births are of a single offspring. The juvenile clasps itself first to the belly of the mother and later she may park her offspring on a branch while she goes searching for food. Within three to four months the young are weaned, at about six months it leaves its mother, and at an age of eight to ten months it becomes fully mature. The life expectancy of the angwantibos is at most 13 years.
A subplot in Gerald Durrell
's first book, The Overloaded Ark
, centres on his attempts to secure an angwantibo for zoological study.
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s that are classified in the Arctocebus genus of the Lorisidae
Lorisidae
Lorisidae is a family of strepsirrhine primates. The lorisids are all slim arboreal animals and include the lorises, pottos and angwantibos. Lorisids live in tropical, central Africa as well as in south and southeast Asia....
family. They are also known as golden pottos because of their yellow or golden coloration.
Angwantibos live in tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and their range includes Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Angwantibos grow to a size of 22 to 30 cm, and have almost no tail at all. They only weigh up to 0.5 kg. Their fur is yellow brown to golden in color. Their snout is more pointed than that of the other lorids and this, along with their round ears, gives it the bear-like appearance that lends them their name in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Bärenmaki "bear lemur".
Solitary, nocturnal
Nocturnal animal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal"....
and arboreal, they prefer the underbrush and the lower layers of the forests. They spend the day hidden in the leaves. Like all lorisids they are characterized by slow movements.
The diet of the angwantibos is predominantly of insects (mostly caterpillars), and occasionally fruits. Owing to their careful movements and their good sense of smell, they can quietly stalk and close-in on their prey and catch it with a lightning-quick movement.
The males mate with all available females whose territory overlaps with theirs. Copulation takes place hanging onto a branch. Gestation lasts 130 days and births are of a single offspring. The juvenile clasps itself first to the belly of the mother and later she may park her offspring on a branch while she goes searching for food. Within three to four months the young are weaned, at about six months it leaves its mother, and at an age of eight to ten months it becomes fully mature. The life expectancy of the angwantibos is at most 13 years.
A subplot in Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
's first book, The Overloaded Ark
The Overloaded Ark
The Overloaded Ark, first published in 1953, is the debut book by British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It is the chronicle of a six months collecting trip to the West African colony of British Cameroon - now Cameroon - - that Durrell made with the highly regarded aviculturist and ornithologist John...
, centres on his attempts to secure an angwantibo for zoological study.
Species
- Genus Arctocebus
- Calabar angwantiboCalabar AngwantiboThe Calabar angwantibo , also known as the Calabar potto, is a strepsirrhine primate from the Lorisidae family. It shares the genus Arctocebus with the golden angwantibo...
, Arctocebus calabarensis - Golden angwantiboGolden AngwantiboThe golden angwantibo is a strepsirrhine primate from the family Lorisidae. It shares the Arctocebus genus with the Calabar angwantibo and together they are commonly called the golden pottos. The golden...
, Arctocebus aureus
- Calabar angwantibo