LAUSR

Significance Although strepsirrhines occupy a key node in primate phylogeny, our knowledge of this group remains quite limited. Here, we integrate comparative genomics analyses and functional assays to reveal the genetic underpinnings of evolutionary adaptation in the pygmy loris, a unique strepsirrhines group. We identified a series of genes that have contributed to certain distinctive adaptive traits of the pygmy loris, namely PITRM1 (low metabolic rate), MYOF (slow movement), and PER2 (hibernation). Our findings serve to deepen our understanding of the adaptive evolution of the strepsirrhines, and may also provide useful information for future studies of human disorders related to abnormal metabolism, skeletal muscle development, and circadian rhythms.