NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Potto
Perodicticus potto (Müller, 1766)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
West African potto (Perodicticus potto), Ankasa Forest Reserve, Western Region, Ghana
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The West African potto (Perodicticus potto) is a species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primate. It is found in tropical West Africa. It is also known as Bosman's potto, after Willem Bosman, who described the species in 1704. It is the type species of the genus Perodicticus.
Wikipedia contributors, West African potto; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:20:07.148967+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Perodicticus potto (Müller, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Müller, 1766)
- Common name
- Potto
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Lorisidae
- Genus
- Perodicticus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderStrepsirrhini É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
- infraorderLorisiformes Gregory, 1915
- familyLorisidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyPerodicticinae Gray, 1870
- genusPerodicticus Bennett, 1831
- speciesPerodicticus potto (Müller, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Perodicticus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| East African PottoPerodicticus ibeanus Thomas, 1910 | LorisidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Milne-Edwards' PottoPerodicticus edwardsi Bouvier, 1879 | LorisidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572892 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4F78J. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.