Biosynthesis of Ascorbic Acid in the Tree Shrew and Slow Loris

IT is well known that man and certain monkeys are unable to synthesize ascorbic acid and depend on an exogenous supply of the vitamin. Experimental scurvy has been induced in the rhesus monkey ( Macaca mulatta ), in the Formosan long tailed monkey ( Macacus cyclopsis swinhoi ) 1 and in the capuchin monkey ( Cebus fatuellus ) 2 by feeding them diets deficient in vitamin C. Stone emphasized 3 that no systematic investigations into the ability of primates to synthesize ascorbic acid have been reported. The criterion of the ability to synthesize the vitamin may be a useful taxonomic key to aid in the assessment of the evolutionary position of various lower primates.