This little guy is so cute isn’t he? He’s a newly discovered slow loris—a kind of primate related to lemurs—and you can’t help but want to give him a cuddle. Don’t piss him off though, because he has a nasty toxic bite.
This Kayan loris was discovered in the central-east highland area of Borneo, and takes its name from the major river flowing in the area. The toxic bite is produced when the critter licks a gland on its arm: the saliva reacts with secretions to form a harmful liquid, which is used to deter predators.
There’s somewhat of a shortage of related slow lorises across the rest of the world because of a keen pet trade. Maybe this one’s toxic bite will make that less of a problem. [American Journal of Primatology via Sci News]
