The Philippine Tarsier
The Philippine Tarsier, scientific name Tarsius syrichta, has often been mistaken to be the smallest monkey. Although monkeys, apes and Tarsiers are all primates, the Tarsier belongs to the prosimii or haplorrhini, a primate sub-group. On the other hand, monkeys and apes belong to the arthropod sub-group. The smallest primate is the pygmy mouse lemur while the smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset. However, the Tarsier is still one of the smallest primates you will ever encounter and is considered to be the mammal with the biggest eyes.
Found in the southern part of the island, Tarsiers were a common sight even until the 1960’s. However, their number has since dwindled to as few as 1000 still left in the wild. The destruction of their forest habitat due to excessive logging, conversion into farmlands and human encroachment is considered as the primary cause. Due to its adorable and benign appearance many have been lured to keep them as pets. This demand fuels the capture and illegal trade of the animal further diminishing its remaining numbers.
In an effort to keep the animal from extinction, the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc.(PTFI) was founded. It acquired 167 hectares of forested areas in Corella and Sikatuna, Bohol which serves as a habitat preserve. The foundation located 10 km. from Tagbilaran City has a visitor, information and a R&D center. At its core is Mr. Carlito Pizarras known as the “Tarsier Man”. As a young boy, he started out illegally selling the Tarsiers to tourist. Noticing the sharp decline in its numbers he has since turned into a conservationist and the Tarsiers’ principal defender. He has successfully bred 20 captive Tarsiers.
In existence for 45 million years, the Tarsier is a nocturnal creature. It sleeps during the day, wakes up at sunset, hunts at night and then sleeps at dawn. In the wild they may live up to 24 years but in captivity most don’t live more than 2 to 5 years. This may be due to the fact that these creatures are easily distressed by being displayed and physically handled during the day contrary to their natural biological rhythm.
The most prominent feature of the Tarsier is its big round staring eyes. It is almost twice as large as a human eye and is even larger than its brain. Directed forward, it does not have the ability to see out of the corner of its eyes and has to turn its head. However, it has the ability to turn it almost 360 degrees. Evolved to take advantage of minimal light, its pupils dilate almost completely filling the iris. When exposed to bright light the pupils look like horizontal slits. It also has a pair of sensitive ears resembling that of a bats’. These thin membranous ears turn to the direction of the sound and combined with its amazing sight makes it a formidable hunter.
Being a carnivore, it preys on insects such as spiders, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, termites, crickets, moths and even small lizards, fish, frogs, birds, etc. It leaps from branch to branch using its strong elongated fingers and toes on its arms and legs. They have suction like fingertips allowing them to grasp tightly on branches and tree trunks. They use their tails, which is about twice as long as their body, to balance them. They have dark, thick and smooth fur which is usually brown in color. Another unique quality of the creature is its upturned smile. Because of the way that its upper jaw is connected to its lower jaw, Tarsiers appear to be smiling.
Tarsiers communicate via high pitched shrieks and calls. They use special glands as scent markers usually during courtship and mating. Mating season is between April and May during which they copulate. Pregnancy last up to 6 months producing only a single offspring in a year. The newborn has already fully developed eyes and fur and is able to grasp and within a month is already leaping.
