Letters From the Field ~ A Blog

It’s hard to believe that this is my 12^th installment of Letters from the field.  This past year in my conservation career has been full of learning experiences and major breakthroughs on trade of wildlife species.  Contributing to this blog has been a pleasure, and I look forward to covering an array of spectacular species in the second year to come.  This month I have chosen the small, large eyed Tarsier. 

- The eyeballs of a Tarsier (approx. 16mm) are each as large as the small mammals whole brain. -

Tarsiers belong to the family Tarsiidae and are distributed throughout Southeast Asia and occur in Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi and Sumatra.  Since 2010, Tarsiers have been sub-divided into three genera:

(a) Eastern Tarsiers genus Tarsius,

(b) Philippine Tarsiers genus Carlito syrichta, and

(c) Western Tarsiers genus Cephalopachus bancanus. 

Fossil records of extinct Tarsiers have also been found in Europe and North America.  To date, eight Tarsiers are also listed on the IUCN Red List (Table 1).

Table 1.

Genera	Latin name	IUCN Red List Status
Eastern Tarsiers genus Tarsius
Dian’s Tarsier	T. dentatus	Decreasing
Lariang Tarsier	T. lariang	Data Deficient
Peleng Tarsier	T. pelengensis	Endangered
Pygmy Tarsier	T. pumilus	Data Deficient
Sangihe Tarsier	T. sangirensis	Endangered
Siau Island Tarsier	T. tumpara
Spectral Tarsier	T. tarsier	Vulnerable
Philippine Tarsiers genus Carlito syrichta		Near Threatened
	C. s. syrichta
	C. s. fraterculus
	C. s. carbonarius
Western Tarsiers genus Cephalopachus bancanus
Horsefield’s Tarsier	C. b. bancanus	Vulnerable
	C. b. natunensis
	C. b. boreanus
	C. b. saltator

Characteristics of these haplorrhines include large eyes, long fingers, soft fur, and long hind limbs from an elongated tarsus bone, from which their name is derived. 

Tarsiers are nocturnal and primarily insectivores, but have also been observed to consume bats, birds, lizards and snakes; making them the only entirely carnivorous primate. 

Social grouping of Tarsiers has been observed to vary across sub-species, with some Philippine and Western Tarsiers seen to live in family groups to those in Sulawesi, living primarily solitary lives. 

The most serious threat to Tarsiers, like so many other non-human primates, is due to severe loss of habitat as a result of human encroachment and forest destruction.  Harvest from the wild for both human consumption and the illegal pet trade are also threatening Tarsier populations.  Most likely due to their specialized diets, Tarsiers have not been successfully bred in captivity.  In order to ensure this species survives in the wild it is therefore paramount to protect their habitat and ensure they are not exploited for trade. 

What does that mean?

Carnivore:  Are those with a diet comprising of animal tissue. This name derived from Latin is translated as ‘meat-eater.’

Haplorrhine:  Are the “dry-nosed’ primates (translating from Greek “simple-nosed”) including: tarsiers, monkeys and apes.  Other primates are classified as Strepsirrhines.  

Insectivore:  Is a form of carnivore whose diet is comprised of insects.  

Strepsirrhines:  The “wet-nosed” primates including: lemurs, lorises and galagos.  These primates have wet tissue around the nose called a rhinarium, also seen in other mammals like cats and dogs.