The needle-clawed bushbabies are the two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Euoticus'', which is in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Galagidae Galagos , also known as bush babies or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They ar ...

. Galagidae is sometimes included as a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

within the

Lorisidae Lorisidae (or sometimes Loridae) is a family of strepsirrhine primates. The lorisids are all slim arboreal animals and comprise the lorises, pottos, and angwantibos. Lorisids live in tropical, central Africa as well as in south and southeast A ...

(or Loridae). Unique to the needle-clawed bushbaby are the keeled nails, featuring prominent central ridges ending in needle-like points, present on all digits except the thumbs, the big toes, and the second foot phalanges which have claws. The first specimen of ''E. elegantulus'' to arrive in Europe from Africa was brought by

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

. The uncovering of this bush baby is documented in his 1957 book ''A Zoo in My Luggage''. The needle-clawed bushbabies have a diet that consists of insects, fruits and gums. Gum tends to be the largest contribute to their diet since 75% of their diet is base around gum.

References

External links

Primate Info Net ''Euoticus'' Factsheets
Galagidae Galagos Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxa described in 1863 {{primate-stub