Lorisidae (redirected from Loridae)

Lorisidae [lə′ris·ə‚dē]

(vertebrate zoology)

A family of prosimian primates comprising the lorises of Asia and the galagos of Africa.

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Lorisidae 

a family of Prosimii. There are four genera, of which two are found in Southeast Asia— Loris (one species) and Nycticebus (two species); the other two genera are distributed in Africa—Perodicticus (one species) and Arctocebus (one species). The limbs are of approximately equal length, the tail is short or absent, and the ears are small and slender and fringed with hair along the edges. The family Lorisidae is distinguished from the related family Galagidae (with the single genus Galago, which is included by some zoologists among the Lorisidae) by their greater dimensions, greater development of the digits of the hands and feet, and their slow movements. Grasping branches with the feet, Lorisidae frequently hang upside down as do the sloths.

REFERENCES

Zhizn’zhivotnykh, vol. 6. Moscow, 1971
Hill, W. C. O. Primates, Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy. (Vol. 1: Strepsirhini.) Edinburgh, 1953.