Tarsiers live in rainforests, jumping from tree to tree. They rarely touch the ground. They sleep during the day and hunt for insects at night. (a) Use the drawing to suggest three ways tarsiers are adapted to their habitat.
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TARSIER
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Alternative Title: Tarsiidae
Learn about tarsiers and a visit to the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary in Corella, Bohol island
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.
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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.