Behavior
The pygmy slow loris is nocturnal, although it is least active on cold, moonlit nights and is generally active on dark nights, regardless of temperature. In the wild, it is normally encountered alone, or in small groups of two to four individuals. Males use scent marking to defend territories and mark their boundaries. Females prefer to mate with males whose scent is familiar. Males will also countermark—mark over or adjacent to another individual's mark deposited earlier—to advertise competitive ability to females. Females actively prefer countermarking males to males whose odors have been countermarked.
The pygmy slow loris produces an apocrine secretion on scent glands near their elbow (brachial glands). This clear liquid, when mixed with its saliva, creates a volatile, noxious toxin. When startled, the slow loris licks its brachial glands and applies the secretion to its heads. The oily secretion contains a complex mixture of volatile and semi-volatile components; one chemical analysis indicated over 200 components were present. One of the components is a member of the secretoglobin family of proteins, and similar to an allergenic protein found in cat dander. The similarity between the brachial gland secretions and domestic cat allergens may account for anaphylaxis in susceptible individuals.
Vocalizations of the pygmy slow loris include a short whistle, mother-infant contact calls, and a whistling sound produced during estrus.
Read more about this topic: Pygmy Slow Loris
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“The civilizing process has increased the distance between behavior and the impulse life of the animal body.”
—Shoshana Zuboff (b. 1951)
“One cannot demand of a scholar that he show himself a scholar everywhere in society, but the whole tenor of his behavior must none the less betray the thinker, he must always be instructive, his way of judging a thing must even in the smallest matters be such that people can see what it will amount to when, quietly and self-collected, he puts this power to scholarly use.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“I like to think of my behavior in the sixties as a “learning experience.” Then again, I like to think of anything stupid I’ve done as a “learning experience.” It makes me feel less stupid.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)