Formerly, all species were classified under one species, P. potto. However, variation among pottos is significant, prompting speculation that there may be more than one species.

Potto, (Perodicticus potto), slow-moving tropical African primate. The potto is a nocturnal tree dweller found in rainforests from Sierra Leone eastward to Uganda.

The West African potto, also known as Bosman’s potto after Willem Bosman, who described the species in 1704, is native to a wide geographic range throughout West Africa.

Perodictus potto is one of the few nocturnal prosimians that do not use leaping to escape from predators. When parked infants are left alone by their mothers, the mother will apply a salivary liquid …

A mother potto “parks” her baby on a hidden tree branch while she goes out to forage at night. As solitary primates, pottos leave behind urine trails along branches to communicate with each other …

The potto is nocturnal and arboreal, sleeping in foliage by day. It is generally slow, moving by climbing rather than by leaping, but it can make quick grasps with its hands and mouth. The potto leaves urine …

Genus: Perodicticus Species: potto Pottos are small and compact with brown woolly coats. They have round heads, small ears and golden brown protuberant eyes. They’re solitary and nocturnal …

The West African potto (Perodicticus potto) is a nocturnal strepsirrhine primate found in tropical West Africa. It is also known as Bosman's potto, after Willem Bosman, who described the species in 1704. …

Phylogenetic evidence supports the West African potto being the most basal member of the genus Perodicticus, with the other two species being sister species to one another.

The Central African potto, also called the Milne-Edwards’s potto, is a primitive primate species, known as a prosimian, belonging to the suborder Strepsirrhini and to the family Lorisidae.