tarsier

primate
Alternate titles: Tarsiidae

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tarsier
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Related Topics:
 
Western tarsier Philippine tarsier pygmy tarsier Afrotarsius chatrathi South Sulawesi tarsier

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Learn about tarsiers and a visit to the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary in
Corella, Bohol island
An overview of tarsiers, including a visit to a tarsier sanctuary on Bohol island, Philippines.
© Behind the News (A Britannica Publishing Partner)See all videos for this article
tarsier, (family Tarsiidae), any of about 13 species of small leaping primates found only
on various islands of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. Tarsiers are
intermediate in form between lemurs and monkeys, measuring only about 9–16 cm
(3.5–6 inches) long, excluding a tail of about twice that length. Tarsiers are lemurlike in
being nocturnal and having a well-developed sense of smell. However, like
monkeys, apes, and humans, they have a nose that is dry and hair-covered, not moist
and bald as is that of lemurs. The eyes and placenta are also simiiform in structure.

The tarsier’s small brain has an enormous visual cortex to process information from the
large goggling eyes, the animal’s most striking feature. The size of the eyes and visual
cortex is probably made necessary by the absence of a reflective layer (tapetum) that the
eyes of most other nocturnal mammals possess. The tarsier is also unusual in having
especially long ankle bones (tarsals, hence the name tarsier), a short body, and a round
head that can be rotated 180°. The face is short, with large, membranous ears that are
almost constantly in motion. The fur is thick, silky, and coloured gray to dark brown.
The tail is scaly on the underside like a rat’s; in most species it has an edging
or terminal brush of hair.
tarsier (Tarsius)
Enormous eyes and padded digits are adaptations that evolved in the tarsier (Tarsius), a nocturnal
arboreal primate of the rainforests of Southeast Asia.
Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures

tarsier
Tarsier.
© iNNOCENt/Fotolia
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Tarsiers are the only entirely carnivorous primates, preying on insects, lizards,
and snakes. Clinging upright to trees, they press the tail against the trunk for support.
Their grip is also aided by the tips of their digits, which are expanded into
disklike adhesive pads. Tarsiers move through the forest by launching themselves from
trunk to trunk propelled by their greatly elongated hind limbs.