The slow lorises have the dubious honour of being the only poisonous primates. A gland on the inside of their elbows secretes a poison that smells a bit like sweaty socks; the loris licks this gland, which gives it a toxic (and agonising) bite. The protein behind the poison is remarkably similar to the one that causes cat allergies.

The lorises as a group have another honour. Perelman found that they are the most divergent of all the primates. If you compared the genes of the seven or so species, you’d see differences that are 4 to 5 times greater than those between humans, chimps, gorillas and orangutans. For now, no one knows why.

Image by David Haring