The Horton Plains slender loris has never been photographed before, and was thought to have been extinct before a rare sighting in 2002. Now a team of researchers led by Saman Gamage have captured the tiny primate on camera in Sri Lanka.
The pictures show a 20-centimeter long male adult sitting on a forest branch forest. Conservationists have discovered it appears to have shorter and sturdier limbs than other loris; a possible adaptation for the cooler, high-altitude montane -- or cloud -- forest in which it lives.
That could mean the Horton Plains slender loris is a distinct species in its own right, said Gamage. Results of the study are published in the latest edition of the journal Primate Conservation.
Link -via reddit
(Image credit: The Zoological Society of London)
Newest 2 Comments
I love that it is from "Horton Plains". Makes me think of "Horton Hears a Who".
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
What a beautiful specimen. I admire its purity.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)