A sad, goggle-eyed tarsier sees his reflection. Philippine tarsier - goggle-eyed “something”

Philippine tarsier(prosimian) - 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 the South - eastern 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 lead night look life, during the day they lazily sleep in the trees, 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 the charming external image, 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 reproduce all year round, but more often this happens 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 have a lukewarm attitude towards carnivorous little ones, because of rumors and superstitions, supposedly 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 the 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

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:

Spreading

Notes

Links

Tarsiers in culture and art on the portal Philippines.RU

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Scarface (film)
Glussky district of Mogilev region

See what “Tarsiers” are in other dictionaries:

tarsiers- a family of prosimians of the primate order. Body length up to 16 cm, tail up to 27.5 cm. Fingers are long, with widened pads at the ends. The eyes are large and glow in the dark. 3 species, on the islands of the Malayan arch., all in the Red Book of the International Union... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

tarsiers- ov; pl. (unit tarsier, a; m.). A family of prosimians of the primate order with long fingers and eyes that glow in the dark. * * * tarsiers are a family of prosimians of the order of primates. Body length up to 16 cm, tail up to 27.5 cm. Fingers long, with... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary

Tarsiers- (Tarsiidae) family of mammals of the primate order. The body length of males is 8.5-16 cm, the tail length is 13.5-27.5 cm, they weigh 80-150 g. The head is large, very mobile: it can rotate almost 360°. The ears are large, the muzzle is short, flattened,... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

One of the most amazing creatures are tarsiers that live in the Philippines. Having looked at him, it’s already difficult to look away from something else until you really admire this monkey. This creature is the smallest of all primates. His height is measured in several centimeters. An adult reaches only 16 centimeters. It usually weighs no more than 160 grams.

Appearance of the animal

The Philippine tarsier has the most attractive eyes. In addition to their huge size, they are able to glow in the dark. It is because of this ability that the locals nicknamed the baby the “ghost tarsier.” No other mammal has such large eyes when compared to their ratio to the head. But this is not the only large part of the monkey’s body. This small animal has features that complement the amazing image of the baby. The animal's muzzle has a slightly flattened appearance, unlike other primates, because of this its sense of smell is not very well developed. The tarsier's brain has relatively large volumes. The baby's fur is very soft and wavy to the touch. He takes care of it, combing it with the claws of his second and third fingers. Interestingly, other phalanges do not have claws. Tarsiers are grayish or dark brown in color.

Tarsier Abilities

The animal's paws are adapted for jumping and climbing trees. The forelimbs are slightly shortened, but the hind limbs are more elongated at the heel. Now it becomes clear where the name “tarsier” came from. The animal's fingers are equipped with pads, and their phalanges are so delicately made that they resemble a small hand. The primate's tail remains bald and ends in a tassel. He uses it like a balance beam while jumping. The size of this peculiar “rudder” exceeds the length of the body. It is also worth noting one feature that the Philippine tarsier has. The photo of the animal shown below shows that the baby’s facial muscles are well developed.

Thanks to them, the baby can make grimaces, like a real monkey. And his head can turn more than 180 degrees in order to see what is happening behind him.

Lifestyle

This animal is active at night. When dawn comes, he hides in bushes, small trees, bamboo or grass. This disguise allows you to hide from prying eyes. At night, the Philippine tarsier goes out in search of food. Ears and eyes adapted in a special way allow him to remain a good hunter. The animal's diet includes insects, worms, spiders and even small vertebrates. To get food into the mouth, the animal brings it by squeezing it with two paws. The tarsier moves mainly by jumping, although it can alternately move its legs and climb. He can cover as much as one and a half kilometers at a time! The tarsier can live 13 years, but this is in captivity.

Reproduction

Tarsiers are surprisingly territorial animals.

The area of one male’s property can be 6 hectares; its expanses are usually home to several females, whose personal territory occupies only 2 hectares. When the time comes (in spring or autumn), the male visits all his ladies, after which they begin a long pregnancy. It develops within six months future baby, which by the time of birth will weigh only 23 grams. The baby is born with its eyes already open, which is what distinguishes the Philippine tarsier from other primates. The photo above shows a mother and her baby. The father does not participate in the upbringing of his offspring. While the children are small, they are always with their nurse. They move by grabbing onto their mother's fur coat. At the moment when the baby begins to obtain food on its own, it goes in search of a separate territory.

Tarsier and man

Because of its unusual appearance, many would like to tame this tiny animal. Those who had such an opportunity tried to do this and became convinced that raising a personal pet from a baby is almost impossible, since they are wild animals. Small animals placed in a cage are trying to get out, and many have broken their heads, hitting the walls and trying to escape. Those lucky few who have adopted this primate noticed how diligently their animals fight insects - cockroaches and spiders. It is interesting to watch the animal when it starts to play. His muscles on his face create funny grimaces.

Extinction of a species

Now this small animal lives only on the island of Bohol. In this area there will be no more than 200 individuals, since the animal dies with high speed. First main reason The reason why the tarsier began to disappear are hunters. To catch the monkey, they cut down trees and strip away their branches. Out of fear, these little ones squeak thinly and change the expression of their faces. But poachers are not the only threat. Birds of Prey They love to feast on small animals and also hunt them.

What is being done to preserve the species

The local population treats tarsiers with care and is afraid of harming them, because they believe that they are pets of the spirits that live in their forest. People are sure that after causing harm to the baby, its invisible owner will take revenge for it. In addition, the Philippine tarsier in at the moment protected international legislation. The sale and purchase of this animal is strictly prohibited. To save this rare species mammal, government on the island. Back in the 20th century, Bohol organized the creation of a center where the animal’s safety was ensured. Arriving here, tourists have the opportunity to look at the tarsier with their own eyes and even take a photo of it.

Some interesting facts

Like every animal, these too have their own interesting features, about which it will be informative to read:

The tarsier genus is divided into at least three species.

Classification

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:

Spreading

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Notes

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 story. long story, - que notre nom est l "un des plus anciens de la France. [Yes, my friend, here is the wheel of fortune. Who would have told me that 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 right, 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, beautiful face officer and the enthusiastic animation with which he spoke about women. Despite the fact that everything love stories Rambal had that character of dirty tricks 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 inflated by himself romantic love which he felt for Natasha (Rambal despised both types of love equally - one was l "amour des charretiers, the other l "amour des nigauds) [the love of cabbies, the other was 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 fair.]
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.

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 most big 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, but instead this work performed by the neck. 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 depend on the species, but all have one common feature: 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, and the hind legs are doubled longer than 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.