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false potto
The false potto (''Pseudopotto martini'') is a lorisoid primate of uncertain taxonomic status found in Africa. Anthropologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz named it in 1996 as the only species of the genus ''Pseudopotto'' on the basis of two specimens (consisting only of skeletal material) that had previously been identified as pottos (''Perodicticus potto''). The precise provenances of the two specimens are uncertain, but at least one may have come from Cameroon. Schwartz thought the false potto could even represent a separate family, but other researchers have argued that the supposed distinguishing features of the animal do not actually distinguish it from the potto; specifically, the false potto shares several features with West African pottos.
The false potto generally resembles a small potto, but according to Schwartz it differs in having a longer tail, shorter spines on its neck and chest vertebrae, a smaller, less complex spine on the second neck vertebra, an entepicondylar foramen (an opening in the humerus, or upper arm bone), a lacrimal fossa (a depression in the skull) that is located inside the eye socket, a smaller upper third premolar and molar, and higher-crowned cheekteeth, among other traits. However, many of these traits are variable among pottos; for example, one researcher found entepicondylar foramina in almost half of the specimens in his sample of pottos.
==Taxonomy==
In a series of potto (''Perodicticus potto'') skeletons in the collections of the Anthropological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich at Irchel, anthropologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz recognized two specimens with traits he believed distinct from all pottos, and in 1996 he used these two specimens to describe a new genus and species of primate, ''Pseudopotto martini''. The generic name, ''Pseudopotto'', combines the element ''pseudo-'' (Greek for "false") with "potto", referring to superficial similarities between the new form and the potto. The specific name, ''martini'', honors primatologist Robert D. Martin. The exact provenance of the two specimens is unknown, and one is represented by a complete skeleton (but no skin) and the other by a skull only. Schwartz placed both specimens in a single species, but noted that further study might indicate that the two represent distinct species. He thought the relationships of the new form were unknown and difficult to assess and did not assign it to any family, but provisionally placed it closest to the family Lorisidae, together with the potto, the angwantibos, and the lorises. The discovery, published in the ''Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History'', was featured in ''Scientific American'' and ''Science''; the ''Science'' account noted that Schwartz thought ''Pseudopotto'' may represent a new family of primates.
In 1998, the journal ''African Primates'' published three papers by primatologists on the false potto. Colin Groves affirmed that it was probably distinct from the potto and Simon Bearder cited it as an example of unrecognized taxonomic diversity in lorisids, but Esteban Sarmiento compared the new taxon to specimens of the potto and found that the alleged distinctive traits of the false potto in fact fell within the range of variation of the potto, and that the false potto was probably not even a species distinct from ''Perodicticus potto''. In 2000, primatologist B.S. Leon agreed that the false potto was not distinct from the subspecies ''Perodicticus potto potto'', but noted that various forms of potto were distinct enough from each other that there may indeed be more than one species of potto. Opinions since then have been divided: a 2003 compilation of African primate diversity concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the false potto is a distinct species, the primate chapter of the 2005 third edition of ''Mammal Species of the World'', written by Groves, listed ''Pseudopotto'' as a genus but noted that it was "controversial"; and Schwartz continued to recognize the false potto as a genus in 2005. Also in 2005, primatologist David Stump reviewed some of the distinguishing features of ''Pseudopotto'' in the context of studying variation among pottos, and found that some but not all of the false potto's traits were found in some pottos, mainly western populations (subspecies ''potto'').
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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