Tarsier: a brief description of the small predator, photos, videos. Tarsiers: Cute big-eyed predators Where you can see tarsiers

A look like no other animal, super long fingers, velvety fur, good reflexes to catch insects or even birds - tarsiers are an unusual genus of primates! Here are a few facts that make tarsier an absolutely amazing animal.

Main distinguishing feature Tarsier is their eyes. They have the largest eyes relative to body size among mammals. The diameter of each eyeball is about 16 mm and is larger than the brain, but large eyes are very important for tarsiers, since they are nocturnal animals. The eyes are so large that they are unable to turn them, and instead the neck does this work. Tarsiers can turn their necks a full 180 degrees in each direction, like the owls or tarsier in the photo below:

They use this ability to silently wait for prey. Tarsiers are completely carnivorous primates. Taste preferences vary by species, but all have one thing in common: they do not eat plant foods at all. Tarsiers hunt insects, reptiles (lizards and snakes), frogs, birds and even bats. Despite the fact that they are small and cute, they are quite ferocious predators that can wait for hours for their prey and catch birds during the flight.

Photo: Khoroshunova Olga/Shutterstock

Tarsiers get their name because of their extremely long hind limbs, which help them climb trees well. They have quite long tail, A hind legs twice as long as the head. Tarsiers can jump up to 40 times their body length, flying more than 4 meters in a single jump.

Photo: Ekaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock

They don't jump around the treetops as you might expect. Instead, they tend to live 1-2 meters above the ground. Tarsiers need large quantities leaf cover, especially for sleeping, as in the photo below:

All tarsier species are vulnerable and endangered due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Without significant efforts to conserve their habitat, they are undoubtedly at risk of extinction. The tarsier's special needs for both habitat and food production make captive breeding programs nearly impossible. Only about 50 percent of tarsiers survive in captivity. Preserving their habitat is their only hope for salvation.

The Philippine tarsier (prosimian) is a big-eyed primate belonging to the Loriidae family.

Appearance

The tarsier looks very cute. Tiny height of no more than 15 cm, such a baby will easily fit on the hand of an adult. The body is covered with hair, especially the back and head; the body length of the prosimian is from 10 to 17 cm. The belly and armpits are smooth.

The tarsier's fur color ranges from gray to brown. The limbs are webbed and have rounded toes, reminiscent of frog legs. The hind legs are longer than the front ones. The tail looks like a rat's, only there is a tassel at the end.

Philippine tarsier on a tree

Tarsier weighs no more than 160 grams. Their muzzle is flattened and wide. The mouth on the face is noticeable, V-shaped. Ears without vegetation, round, mobile. You can recognize him by his huge disproportionate eyes, which also glow in the dark. The head rotates and the baby can look behind itself when turning 360 degrees. Tourists who have seen the miracle say that the sight is not a pleasant one.

Habitat

The Philippine tarsier animal lives in Southeast Asia. Interestingly, there is one species for each individual island. Previously, the animal population was found in Europe, North America. There are about 8 varieties in nature, but only three are distinguished:

• Living in the Philippines, on the islands (Mindanao, Samar, Leyte, Bohol).
• Bankansky in (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Banka, Serasan).
• I liked the ghost (Sulawesi, Salayar, Greater Sangihi and Pelenge).

Tarsier lifestyle

Family of prosimians are nocturnal, sleep lazily in trees during the day, like bats. And with the arrival of darkness, these are the most active creatures on the planet. They are constantly on the alert, their large eyes see perfectly in the dark, their ears catch movement like locators. The reaction speed is instant. Despite their charming appearance, these wild animals are bloodthirsty hunters.

Nutrition and reproduction

Tarsiers feed exclusively on flesh. In action are:

• lizards;
• insects;
• spiders;
• bird eggs;

Tarsiers do not drink water, but lap it up like dogs. Due to their body structure, they can attack prey and jump several meters. They can feast on fish and crabs in the water.

Philippine tarsier photo

But locusts remain their favorite food. Philippine tarsiers can breed all year round, but more often this occurs from November. Pregnancy lasts 6 months for the female, the newborn feeds breast milk up to 7 weeks, then begins animal food. Males do not participate in raising children.

Enemies

Their enemies are feathered predators that hunt mainly at night. These are owls. Feral cats can also attack. The tarsier is a tasty morsel and an easy prey due to its small height and weight. And of course a person.

The local population eats them, exterminating and reducing the population.

Tarsier prosimians communicate in nature using ultrasound, which the human ear cannot perceive. If in numbers, then about 70 kHz, but a person is only able to pick up 20 kHz. Local residents are lukewarm towards carnivorous crumbs, due to rumors and superstitions, allegedly for a long time something with large glowing eyes, ate small children at night.

By the way, scientists adhere to the hypothesis that Tarsiers appeared before prosimians and are a transitional link between them and monkeys. The structure of the body is very similar to that of a human, there are no bones in the genitals.

Tarsier close up

Having three fingers with sharp claws, they use them as a comb. Life expectancy is short; the tarsier lives about 13 years in captivity. Because in limited conditions, pop-eyed babies reproduce reluctantly.

Since 1986, the Philippine tarsier has been listed as endangered on the International Red List. A natural reserve has been created in the Philippines, where there are all conditions for these tiny creatures to stay and reproduce.

It is difficult to meet them there; they live in trees, hiding from view in dense thickets of bamboo. Although they are not afraid of people and can make contact. If you are interested, we can suggest you read the article about. By the way, they look very similar.

A person's closest soul mates. After all, legends tell us that we descended from monkeys

Tarsiers, or Tarsius, are a genus of primates that are divided into at least 3 species. Previously, they were classified as a suborder of prosimians, which is now considered obsolete; Currently, they are considered one of the families of dry-nosed monkeys (this also includes highly developed monkeys and humans).

The smallest primates got their name from the very long ankles - “heels” - on their hind limbs.

Scientists are divided on the number of species of tarsiers - some believe that there are three such species, while others believe that there are eight. In total, 11 species of tarsier are known, among them are the western tarsier, the eastern tarsier, the Philippine tarsier, the pygmy tarsier and the diana tarsier.

Tarsiers make a great impression on tourists. It is difficult to realize that there is an animal on earth whose head can turn 180 and even almost 360 degrees. There is something mystical and unreal about this.

Classification of tarsiers.

The Philippine tarsier was first described in the 18th century. It was described by Catholic missionaries and called a tiny monkey. Carl Linnaeus later discovered that the tarsier was different from marmosets and renamed it sirichtha monkey.

And even later, this name was supplemented by a generic name and turned into the tarsier siricht. This is what the Philippine tarsier is called to this day.

The islanders have many names for the tarsier, the most common being maomag or mago.

It is curious that tarsiers have characteristics of both lemurs (semi-primates) and true monkeys. In fact, they are a transitional link from lemurs to real monkeys.

They are related to lemurs poor development both hemispheres of the brain (they do not cover the cerebellum) and claws on the second toes of the hind legs, and with monkeys - eye sockets separated by a bony septum from the temples and a rounded skull.

But some features (the structure of the intestines or teeth) are not characteristic of modern primates at all, which indirectly indicates a more ancient origin tarsiers.

It seems that tarsiers have never been lemurs, but they may well be conditionally called monkeys. These are unique animals that break the usual classification of animals.

There is also a very interesting hypothesis put forward in 1916 by Professor Frederick Wood Jones. According to this hypothesis, man descended from ancient tarsiers, and not from great apes, as has hitherto been generally accepted. Here are the main provisions of the hypothesis:

· When moving along a horizontal surface, tarsiers hold their bodies vertically - this could become the basis for human upright posture.

· The body proportions of humans and tarsiers are similar - their arms are shorter than their legs, while the opposite is true for apes.

· The direction of hair growth of tarsier and humans is also similar, which cannot be said about great apes.

The facial part of the skull is shortened

· The structure of the collarbones and some muscles are very similar in the tarsier and humans.

So the tarsier may well be our ancestor.

Habitat of tarsiers.

The tarsier's ancestors existed during the Eocene in North America and Eurasia, and it is one of the most ancient animal species in the Philippines, having existed for at least 45 million years.

Now their habitat has shrunk significantly and has been reduced to just a few islands.

Tarsiers are mainly island inhabitants of Southeast Asia; they can be found on the islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo and other islands close to them.

Description appearance tarsier.

Tarsiers are quite small animals, up to a maximum height of 16 cm. The long, bare, sparsely haired tail varies in length from 13 to 28 cm and ends in a fluffy tassel. The weight of an average animal is from 80 to 160 g.

Males are larger than females, weighing on average 134g, while females weigh approximately 117g. The hind limbs are longer than the front ones and allow them to jump considerable distances, up to several meters, in case of danger.

The head is quite large compared to the length of the body and can rotate almost 360 degrees, the mouth is wide with thick lips, and the neck is short. Tarsiers have good hearing and a fairly large brain.

These are the only primates known to science that are able to communicate with each other using ultrasonic waves. They hear sounds with a frequency of up to 90 kHz and communicate at a frequency of about 70 kHz.

It has been noted that when the tarsier is dissatisfied with something, it makes a sound like a thin squeak. Tarsiers use their voice to mark the boundaries of their territories, call on partners, but in general they use their voice much less often than all other primates.

These cute animals have 34 teeth arranged vertically, the upper teeth are larger than the lower ones. They have funny, very long fingers on all their limbs, ending with thickened suction cups - this design of the fingers makes it easier for them to climb trees.

All fingers, except the second and third, end in flat nails; the second and third have sharp claws, which small animals use to comb their fur. When climbing with its fingers, the tarsier clasps the branch, while extending its thumbs.

The ears are bare, round in shape, located in constant movement and also very mobile, like small locators; soft, pleasant to the touch wool of a grayish or brownish tint.

Their most noticeable feature is large round yellow or yellow-brown eyes up to 16mm in diameter. If you compare the length of their body with the length of the human body, then the size of their eyes will correspond to the size of an apple. Plus, they also glow in the dark.

Based on the ratio of eye size to head and body size, tarsiers are listed in the Guinness Book of Records. What is noteworthy is that the weight of the eye is greater than the weight of the brain.

There are facial muscles on the tarsier's face, so the expression of its face can change, which makes the small animal look like a person.

Tarsier lifestyle.

Tarsiers are most active at night - they are predominantly nocturnal primates. They live in trees, and during the day they hide among dense vegetation or in hollows, where, as usual, they sleep sweetly until the evening.

They climb trees very deftly and can also jump like grasshoppers. They use their tail to achieve balance, like little tightrope walkers. The denser the vegetation, the better for them. They almost never go down to the ground.

Tarsiers lead a solitary lifestyle; they can be separated by more than one kilometer in the wild; each of them has its own territory. One male usually occupies up to 6.45 hectares of forest, and a female - up to 2.45 hectares.

The density of animals per 100 hectares is usually 41 females and 16 males. In a day, a tarsier can easily cover a distance of one and a half kilometers while walking around its vast territory.

You can meet a male and a female only in mating season, on the full moon of December-January. But in special reserves, tarsiers can easily live in small groups.

Tarsier nutrition.

The basis of the tarsier's diet are representatives of the insect class, as well as small vertebrates (lizards) and even small birds. The uniqueness of these primates is also that they are the only primates who do not eat plant foods.

So small, but still predators. They use jumping to stun or stun their prey. Having caught an insect, they bring it to their mouth with one or two paws.

They can eat up to 10% of their body weight per day, i.e. from 8 to 16 g. Most of all they like locust types of insects; by dealing with them, the animals actually become “forest orderlies.”

Reproduction of tarsiers.

Tarsiers do not build nests for their young. Pregnancy in female tarsiers lasts up to 6 months; the calf is born fully developed, sighted and with good grasping reflexes; it weighs about 27 g at birth.

Tarsiers have the slowest developing embryo, which gains only 23 grams during intrauterine development! Once born, the baby clings to the mother’s stomach, or the mother carries him by taking him by the scruff of the neck with her teeth.

And, although the female tarsier has several pairs of nipples, she uses only the breast pair to feed the baby.

Male tarsiers are not seen in raising and feeding the younger generation.

After seven weeks, the baby will finally switch to meat food. And in almost a month the cub will be able to jump. Young tarsiers become sexually mature by one year. Life expectancy in nature is unknown, but in captivity it is a maximum of 13 years - among those known to science.

Researchers presumably consider tarsiers to be monogamous primates, although this has not yet been proven.

Enemies of tarsiers.

The main enemy of tarsiers are people. By destroying their living environment and cutting down forests, people are depriving small primates of their habitat. Local residents also hunt them for their tasty meat.

All attempts to tame tarsiers ended in the death of the animals after a fairly short time. The kids cannot get used to captivity and often break their heads on the bars of the cage, trying to escape.

The Philippine tarsier is endemic, living on only a few islands in the Philippines and at the moment is in danger of extinction.

They also contribute to the extinction of tarsiers birds of prey(owls) and wild cats.

This is why this species of primate was given the status of a critically endangered species in 1986. Dolgopyatov is protected by both local and international legislation; their purchase and sale is prohibited, which is very useful for tourists to know.

Do not try to buy this animal for yourself - you will not only break the law, but also endanger the life of a small animal, because it is quite difficult to ensure an uninterrupted supply of insects to it. Better buy yourself a soft toy of a tarsier as a consolation.

In 1997, the Foundation was created to restore and preserve the natural environment to increase the number of tarsiers. Philippine Tarsiers in the province of Bohol. The Foundation acquired a territory of 7.4 hectares and created the Tarsier Center.

There, tarsiers are kept in conditions that are as similar as possible to their usual habitat, there are no predators there, the animals are provided with food, and they are shown to visitors.

But if they wish, the animals can always climb over the fence; at night, some do so, and return back by morning.

Discussions are currently underway on the possibility of acquiring an additional 20 hectares of territory and limiting tourist access to the small primates.

The role of tarsiers in culture and art.

In past centuries, the peoples of Indonesia were afraid of tarsiers and created various myths about them. For example, due to the ability to rotate their heads almost 360 degrees, Indonesians believed that their heads were not attached to their bodies, and if they were encountered, the same thing would happen to a person.

Tarsiers managed to get into the movies - in the anime series "Animatrix" there is a tame tarsier Baby (Baby).

Tarsiers (Tarsiidae) are small creatures from the order of primates. Previously, tarsiers were classified as an outdated suborder of prosimians; today they are considered part of the dry-nosed monkeys (Haplorhini).

Biologists disagree about the number of species in the tarsier family. Depending on your point of view, there are from three to seven species of tarsier. While four of them can be considered subspecies, the following have undisputed species status:

• Bancan tarsier (Tarsius bancanus)
• ghost tarsier (Tarsius spectrum)

They are found in Southeast Asia, with each species localized to certain islands.

For example, the Philippine tarsier, or sirichta, lives in Mindanao, Samar, Leyte, and Bohol. It was first described by Catholic missionaries at the beginning of the 18th century. and named the “tiny Luzon monkey.” Carl Linnaeus did not agree with this name, giving his own - “Syrichta monkey”, the general generic name Tarsius syrichta, i.e. "tarsier of siricht" was appropriated later, and local residents call it differently: "mawmag", "mamag", "mago", "magau", "maomag", "malmag" and "magatilok-iok".

Bankan tarsier (Tarsius bancanus) found in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Banka, Serasan. The ghost tarsier (Tarsius spectrum or Tarsius tarsier) has chosen Sulawesi, Salayar, Greater Sangihi and Pelenge.

These little ones are big-headed and bug-eyed. With a body length of 12-15 centimeters, their eye diameter is up to 16 millimeters. With these proportions transferred to human height, it would be equal to the average size of an apple. And the tarsier can rotate its head almost 360 degrees.

Another feature of the appearance is the uneven distribution of fur. There is almost no tail on the stomach and armpits; the tail, which is longer than the body with the head, is naked and has only a hair brush at the end. It plays a very important role as a balancer and steering wheel. The tarsier, which prefers vertical movement, even leans on it when standing.

The animals lead an arboreal and nocturnal lifestyle in solitary or paired existence, in as a last resort- groups of up to four individuals. They deftly climb trees using the pads on their toes as suction cups. Their pregnancy lasts about six months and a small animal is born, which, within a couple of hours after birth, can, grasping the mother’s fur, make its first journey.

Offspring can appear all year round, but the highest birth rate occurs from November to February. It is noteworthy: having two to three pairs of nipples, the female uses only breasts when feeding.

Tarsiers are characterized by amazing jumping ability: up to 160 centimeters in height and more than a meter in length, and the manner of jumping is reminiscent of a frog. By jumping, they stun their prey: insects, spiders, small lizards, etc. Eating up to 10 percent of their own weight in food per day, they fully deserve the title of forest orderlies, especially in terms of absorbing locusts.

Alas, the poor fellows did not receive respect for this among the local population. According to some beliefs, they represent evil gnomes, according to others - enchanted creatures, according to others - they are pets of forest spirits. An encounter with tarsiers is considered dangerous, mainly because of their eyes, which glow in the dark. However, causing harm to them is perceived as a bad omen, a harbinger of misfortune.

But for now, only the animals themselves suffer misfortune. In the forest they have few enemies - owls and feral cats, but the destruction of their habitat by humans has already led to the fact that tarsiers have become an endangered species. In captivity, tarsiers do not live - they quickly die, smashing their heads into blood against the bars of the cage. The average lifespan of a tarsier is about ten to thirteen years.

The tarsier genus is divided into at least three species.

Classification

Previously, tarsiers were classified as an obsolete suborder of prosimians; today they are considered as one of the families of dry-nosed monkeys ( Haplorhini). In the Eocene and Oligocene, there was a family close to tarsiers called Omomyidae, whose representatives lived in Eurasia and North America. They are considered the ancestors of tarsiers.

Depending on your point of view, there are from three to eight species of tarsier. While five of them can be considered subspecies, the following have undisputed species status:

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Excerpt characterizing Tarsiers

Pierre looked at him silently.
– Comment dites vous asile en allemand? [How do you say shelter in German?]
- Asile? - Pierre repeated. – Asile en allemand – Unterkunft. [Asylum? Refuge - in German - Unterkunft.]
– Comment dites vous? [How do you say?] - the captain asked incredulously and quickly.
“Unterkunft,” Pierre repeated.
“Onterkoff,” said the captain and looked at Pierre with laughing eyes for several seconds. – Les Allemands sont de fieres betes. “N"est ce pas, monsieur Pierre? [These Germans are such fools. Isn’t it so, Monsieur Pierre?],” he concluded.
- Eh bien, encore une bouteille de ce Bordeau Moscovite, n "est ce pas? Morel, va nous chauffer encore une pelilo bouteille. Morel! [Well, another bottle of this Moscow Bordeaux, isn’t it? Morel will warm us another bottle. Morel !] – the captain shouted cheerfully.
Morel served candles and a bottle of wine. The captain looked at Pierre in the light, and he was apparently struck by the upset face of his interlocutor. Rambal, with sincere grief and sympathy on his face, approached Pierre and bent over him.
“Eh bien, nous sommes tristes, [What is it, are we sad?],” he said, touching Pierre’s hand. – Vous aurai je fait de la peine? “Non, vrai, avez vous quelque chose contre moi,” he asked again. – Peut etre rapport a la situation? [Perhaps I have upset you? No, really, don’t you have something against me? Maybe regarding the position?]
Pierre did not answer, but looked affectionately into the Frenchman’s eyes. This expression of participation pleased him.
- Parole d"honneur, sans parler de ce que je vous dois, j"ai de l"amitie pour vous. Puis je faire quelque chose pour vous? Disposez de moi. C"est a la vie et a la mort. C"est la main sur le c?ur que je vous le dis, [Honestly, not to mention what I owe you, I feel friendship for you. Can I do something for you? Use me. This is for life and death. I tell you this, putting my hand on my heart,” he said, hitting himself in the chest.
“Merci,” said Pierre. The captain looked intently at Pierre the same way he looked when he learned what the shelter was called in German, and his face suddenly lit up.
- Ah! dans ce cas je bois a notre amitie! [Ah, in that case, I drink to your friendship!] - he shouted cheerfully, pouring two glasses of wine. Pierre took the glass he had poured and drank it. Rambal drank his, shook Pierre's hand again and leaned his elbows on the table in a thoughtfully melancholy pose.
“Oui, mon cher ami, voila les caprices de la fortune,” he began. – Qui m"aurait dit que je serai soldat et capitaine de dragons au service de Bonaparte, comme nous l"appellions jadis. Et cependant me voila a Moscou avec lui. “Il faut vous dire, mon cher,” he continued in the sad, measured voice of a man who is about to tell a long story, “que notre nom est l"un des plus anciens de la France. [Yes, my friend, here is the wheel of fortune. Who said I wish I would be a soldier and captain of dragoons in the service of Bonaparte, as we used to call him. However, here I am in Moscow with him. I must tell you, my dear... that our name is one of the most ancient in France.]
And with the easy and naive frankness of a Frenchman, the captain told Pierre the history of his ancestors, his childhood, adolescence and manhood, all his relatives and property, family relationships. “Ma pauvre mere [“My poor mother.”] played, of course, an important role in this story.
– Mais tout ca ce n"est que la mise en scene de la vie, le fond c"est l"amour? L"amour! “N"est ce pas, monsieur; Pierre?” he said, perking up. “Encore un verre.” [But all this is only an introduction to life, its essence is love. Love! Isn’t it so, Monsieur Pierre? Another glass. ]
Pierre drank again and poured himself a third.
- Oh! Les femmes, les femmes! [ABOUT! women, women!] - and the captain, looking at Pierre with oily eyes, began to talk about love and his love affairs. There were a lot of them, which was easy to believe, looking at the smug, handsome face of the officer and at the enthusiastic animation with which he spoke about women. Despite the fact that all of Rambal's love stories had that dirty character in which the French see the exceptional charm and poetry of love, the captain told his stories with such sincere conviction that he alone experienced and knew all the delights of love, and described women so temptingly that Pierre listened to him with curiosity.
It was obvious that l "amour, which the Frenchman loved so much, was neither that lower and simple kind of love that Pierre once felt for his wife, nor that romantic love, inflated by himself, that he felt for Natasha (both types of this love Rambal equally despised - one was l"amour des charretiers, the other l"amour des nigauds) [the love of cabbies, the other - the love of fools.]; l"amour, which the Frenchman worshiped, consisted mainly in the unnaturalness of relationships with women and in a combination of ugliness that gave the main charm to the feeling.
So the captain told the touching story of his love for one charming thirty-five-year-old marquise and at the same time for a charming innocent seventeen-year-old child, the daughter of a charming marquise. The struggle of generosity between mother and daughter, which ended with the mother, sacrificing herself, offering her daughter as a wife to her lover, even now, although a long-past memory, worried the captain. Then he told one episode in which the husband played the role of a lover, and he (the lover) played the role of a husband, and several comic episodes from souvenirs d'Allemagne, where asile means Unterkunft, where les maris mangent de la choux croute and where les jeunes filles sont trop blondes. [memories of Germany, where husbands eat cabbage soup and where young girls are too blond.]
Finally, the last episode in Poland, still fresh in the captain’s memory, which he recounted with quick gestures and a flushed face, was that he saved the life of one Pole (in general, in the captain’s stories, the episode of saving a life occurred incessantly) and this Pole entrusted him with his charming wife (Parisienne de c?ur [Parisian at heart]), while he himself entered the French service. The captain was happy, the charming Polish woman wanted to run away with him; but, moved by generosity, the captain returned his wife to the husband, saying to him: “Je vous ai sauve la vie et je sauve votre honneur!” [I saved your life and save your honor!] Having repeated these words, the captain rubbed his eyes and shook himself, as if driving away the weakness that had seized him at this touching memory.