The golden angwantibo is a strepsirrhine primate

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...

 from the family 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....

. It shares the Arctocebus genus with the Calabar angwantibo

Calabar Angwantibo

The 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) and together they are commonly called the golden pottos. The golden
angwantibo is found 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...

, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...

 and Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

. Its usual habitat is rain forest, but it has also been known to live on farmland.

Like the Calabar angwantibo, the golden angwantibo weighs between 266 and 465 grams and has a stumpy tail, abbreviated index fingers, a specialised grooming claw on each foot and a white line on its face. It can be distinguished from its cousin largely by its colour. The fur on its back is red-gold, with a more muted red on its belly. Unlike the Calabar angwantibo, the golden angwantibo has no nictitating membrane

Nictitating membrane

The nictitating membrane is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye for protection and to moisten it while maintaining visibility. Some reptiles, birds, and sharks have a full nictitating membrane; in many mammals, there is a small...

.

The golden angwantibo is a nocturnal and arboreal species that is typically found on small branches 5-15 metres above ground. Its diet consists of around 85% insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s (especially caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s) and 14% fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

. Its foraging, antipredator, social and reproductive behaviour are extremely similar to those of the Calabar angwantibo.

External links

• Golden potto (Arctocebus aureus) at The Primata