What pre-existing group of tarsiers. Philippine tarsier: interesting facts, photos. Features of life in the wild

Everyone might be surprised if in the night jungle, when the voices of wild predators are heard, an incomprehensible creature jumps out from under your feet, instantly covers a distance of several meters, places itself on a branch and stares at you with an unblinking gaze. And when he loses interest, he will slowly turn his head away, making a 360-degree movement.

Such creatures with their unusual behavior are common in Philippine everyday life. Funny primates live in the Philippines - the sirichta or tarsier. Impressionable tourists are afraid of this animal, and the natives think that it is a representative of dark forces, and they are also sure that the tarsier’s head exists separately from the body.

This, of course, is all superstition, but the Philippine tarsier can surprise even the most inveterate skeptics.

The eyes of the animal are of particular interest; if you compare the ratio of their size to the entire body, it turns out that this animal has the largest eyes among all existing mammals.

The Philippine tarsier even entered the Guinness Book of Records as the creature with the largest eyes.

In addition, this animal has another record: it ranks second among the smallest primates, and the first went to the dwarf mouse lemur, which reaches a length of only 20 centimeters, with a tail of 10 centimeters. The body length of the tarsier is slightly longer than that of the dwarf lemur, but the body is shorter than the tail.

The Philippine tarsier has well-formed hind limbs and long ankles. The tarsier uses its hind limbs to make jumps several meters long. The tarsier has elongated fingers, while joints and pads are clearly visible on them, which in appearance resemble suction cups. These are the fingers that are depicted on aliens in movies.

Despite this, the tarsier is a completely terrestrial animal. These animals live on the islands of the Philippine archipelago: Mindanao, Samar, Leyte and Bohol. The habitat is bamboo thickets, branches of bushes and trees. Philippine tarsiers do not live in groups; they prefer solitary life. The diet consists of a variety of insects, worms, spiders and small birds.

Males have their own feeding territory, about 6.5 hectares in size, on which several females settle. The area of ​​the females' possessions does not exceed 2.5 hectares. When one of the females has a favorable time for fertilization, the male visits her. The gestation period is approximately six months, but throughout this time the fetus develops slowly, so when the baby is born, it weighs only 23 grams.

These animals do not harm people, on the contrary, they help; if you manage to tame a tarsier (but it is worth noting that this is quite difficult), it will protect the house from various pests: worms, spiders, insects and other living creatures. When the Philippine tarsier plays, it evokes a feeling of tenderness, since its face is dotted with a large number of facial muscles, thanks to which the primate’s face can take on various expressions.

The tarsier monkey belongs to the Primate genus and forms its own family, the Dolgopyatov. It could not be otherwise, since tarsiers have an extremely exotic appearance, and are completely unlike other representatives of the Primate genus.

Thanks to such an unusual appearance, tarsiers have become heroes of mythical stories and legends.

Philippine tarsier

Tarsiers are tiny animals with a body weight of 80-160 g and a height of 9 to 16 cm. They have long hind legs and a bare tail, reaching a length of 30 cm. The fingers of both the hind and forelimbs are long, with thickenings at the tips, which form a kind of suction cups to facilitate movement through trees.

Compared to the body, the head of tarsiers is quite large. It is connected to the spine more vertically than in other primates. An extraordinary feature of tarsiers is the ability to turn their heads almost 360º.

Their relatively large ears, like the tail, are not covered with hair; Tsolgopyatov is distinguished by excellent hearing. They are able to hear sounds with frequencies up to 90 kHz.

The eyes are a unique feature of their appearance. They reach a diameter of 16 mm. At night they glow, which gives these animals something magical.

The body of the tarsier is covered with short grayish or brown hair.

Nutrition

Tarsiers are the only primates whose diet consists exclusively of animal foods, namely insects and small reptiles. During the hunt, the tarsier jumps sharply, stunning and immobilizing its prey. During the day, he can absorb food weighing up to 10% of his body weight.

Habitat and lifestyle

The natural habitat of tarsiers is Southeast Asia, namely the Philippine Islands, Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi. Tarsiers prefer dense forests, where they spend most of their time in the branchy crowns of trees. Quiet and shy during the day, they hide among the dense foliage. At night they become dexterous hunters.

Tarsiers move by jumping, pushing off with their hind legs like a frog, and using their tail as a balancer.

Reproduction

Tarsiers are solitary animals; they extremely rarely live in groups; only during the breeding season can they be seen in pairs.

The female's pregnancy lasts about 6 months, and the baby is born quite developed. He grabs his mother's stomach and moves through the trees with her. During the first 7 weeks of life, the little goggle-eyed tarsier feeds on milk, and then moves on to animal food.

Today, tarsiers, which Aboriginal people consider to be the pets of forest spirits, are in danger. Man is not only rapidly destroying the forests in which they live, but is also trying to tame tarsiers and make them pets, which rarely leads to success; in captivity, tarsiers quickly die.

Primates from the genus Tarsier were described in the 18th century. Three types are currently known for them. The name of the animal is due to the fact that its hind limbs are always longer than its forelimbs.

The tarsier is a small animal, 9-16 cm long. The tail is bare, decorated with a tassel at the tip, its length is 13-28 cm. The weight of adult individuals ranges from 80 to 160 g. The hind limbs are long, the head is large, round in shape, is located vertically in relation to the body, and the angle of its possible rotation is about 360°. The long fingers of tarsiers are thickened at the tips - they have peculiar suction cups that help them climb trees. Bare ears are round in shape. Tarsiers have very well developed hearing. It is also the only species among all primates that “communicates” using ultrasound. Animals hear sounds at frequencies up to 90 kHz and scream at frequencies of 70 kHz.

The fur is soft, brownish or grayish in color. The most noticeable and recognizable feature of the tarsier is its large eyes, the diameter of which reaches 16 mm. They look straight ahead, unlike many other primates. If you project the size of a tarsier's eye onto a human body, it will be equal to an apple. And the yellow eyes of this species have the ability to glow in the dark.

The tarsier's diet mainly consists of insects; in addition, they can feed on small vertebrates. Among primates, tarsier is the only species that eats exclusively animal products. The tarsier stuns its prey by jumping. He eats 10% of his weight in food per day.

The species is distributed in southeast Asia: on the island of Sumatra, Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi, the Philippines, as well as on other nearby islands.

Common types of tarsier

A nocturnal animal that is endemic to central Sulawesi (Indonesia). The body is up to 12 cm long, the tail is about 22 cm long. The species is distributed in tropical rain forests, primary and secondary forests, and in mangroves. Lives in groups of 2-7 individuals. It has good ability to jump and climb trees. The diet consists of animal foods, insects and small vertebrates.

This species is found in the central regions of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Previously, scientists believed that the pygmy tarsier became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century, but at the beginning of the 21st century the animal was discovered again. Two males and females captured later had special sensors attached to them to track their movements.

This species is the smallest among its relatives. The length of the dwarf tarsier is from 95 to 105 mm, weight does not exceed 57 g. The ears are small, the fur is light, brownish-red. The tail is covered with thick hair and is 135-275 mm long. The eyes are large, approximately 16 mm in diameter. All limbs of the animal have claws.

The primate's eyes are very large. The head is round, the neck is short, the muzzle is flat. The ears are thin, without hair. The fur is soft, silky, gray or yellowish-gray. The belly and breast are lighter than the back. The tail is long, decorated at the tip with a tassel. The forelimbs are short, the hind limbs are long. The fingers are long and thin, the pads on them are flattened. The body length is 9.5-14 cm, the tail length is 20-26 cm. The weight of males is in the range of 118-130 g, females weigh from 102 to 114 g.

The eastern tarsier is common in Indonesia, Sulawesi and other islands. The animal lives in both primary and secondary forests, and in mangroves, bamboo groves, and bushes. Sometimes found in gardens.

The species is considered vulnerable, since the population size and its habitat have decreased significantly in recent years due to active human activity and a reduction in habitat for the animal.

All species of tarsier are not characterized by sexual dimorphism. Males and females look the same and are not different in appearance.

Tarsiers lead an active nocturnal lifestyle. For life, they choose forest trees, in the dense crowns of which they can safely hide during the day. The tarsier is able to move deftly through trees, its long hind legs allow it to jump several meters, throwing its hind limbs back, as do frogs or grasshoppers. The tail is used as a balancer.

Tarsiers generally lead a solitary life; in their natural habitat, individual individuals are usually separated by kilometers, and they guard their territory extremely jealously. Females and males in nature can be seen during the full moon in December-January, that is, during the period when mating season occurs. It is interesting that in the territory of artificially created reserves, tarsiers also live in groups.

The pregnancy of a female tarsier is quite long (about six months), the weight of newborn babies is 25-27 g, they are sighted, and the grasping reflex is strongly developed. At first, the baby clings to the mother's stomach, but she can also carry it in her teeth, holding it by the scruff of the neck. From the end of the second month of life, the little tarsier switches from milk feeding to meat food. Young tarsiers become sexually mature at 1 year of age. An age of 13 years has been recorded for the long-lived tarsier in captivity.

The main threat to the tarsier population is the destruction of its living environment. The animal is also hunted for meat.

Taming tarsiers, as a rule, fails and ends in the death of the animal. The tarsier cannot get used to captivity, tries to escape and often breaks its head on the cage.

• Tarsiers are widely represented in the ancient mythology and superstitions of the people of Indonesia. They believed that the head of this primate was not attached to its body (due to the fact that it rotates almost 360°), and they were afraid of meeting it, believing that the same fate awaited a person in this case.
• In the Philippines, the tarsier was considered a pet of the forest spirits.

Monkey tarsier belong to the genus of Primates, and they differ from all their relatives in their exotic appearance. It is thanks to their unusual appearance that they became heroes of many films and cartoons. Even by photo it's clear that tarsier, a very small animal whose body weight may not exceed 160 grams.

Males weigh more than females. They are about 10-16 cm tall and can easily fit in your hand. In addition, these small animals have a 30 cm tail and long paws with which they push off.

On all limbs they have long, adapted fingers with thickening at the tips, which allow such animals to easily move through the trees.

The length of their jump can be a couple of meters due to the special structure of their legs. Compared to the entire body, the head of these animals is much larger than the entire body. It is also connected to the spine vertically, which allows you to turn your head almost 360˚.

Usually Philippine tarsier has large ears that are capable of hearing sounds with frequencies up to 90 kHz. The ears and tail are not covered with hair, but the rest of the body is covered.

There are facial muscles on its face that enable the animal to change its facial expression. These animals have lived on Earth for 45 million years and are the oldest animal species in the Philippine Islands.

At one time they could be found in Europe and Northern Europe. But now their population has greatly decreased and they can only be seen in remote corners of the planet.

A unique feature that this animal has is its large eyes. Their diameter can be up to 16 mm. In the dark they glow and allow him to see perfectly.

The entire body of the animal is covered with short, dark hair. It is precisely because of their peculiarity that many people want to purchase such animals for themselves.

To tarsier buy, you need to go to their habitats, where local guides and hunters can offer a suitable option. The habitat of such animals is Southeast Asia, and more specifically Sumatra and the Philippine Islands.

Character and lifestyle

Most often they live in dense forests, in trees. It is on the tree that they spend most of their time. These animals are very shy, so during the day they hide in dense foliage. But at night they become dexterous hunters who go out hunting to make money.

They move through trees by jumping, but in this case their tail serves as balancing. They lead a solitary lifestyle and are nocturnal in their lifestyle.

Tarsiers very rarely descend to the ground and are constantly found on tree branches. In a day, this small animal can cover up to 500 meters, bypassing the place where it lives. When morning comes, they hide in a tree and sleep.

If this animal is unhappy with something, then it can emit a very thin squeak, which a person cannot always hear. With his voice, he informs other individuals that he is there. He can also communicate with other individuals using ultrasound at a frequency of 70 kHz. But the human ear can only perceive 20 kHz.

Tarsier food

Usually, pygmy tarsier feeds on small vertebrates and insects. Unlike all other relatives, they eat only animal food, but do not eat plants.

During the hunt, they are in a wait-and-see position for a long time until the prey itself approaches it or is at a distance of one jump.

With their hands, a tarsier can hold a lizard, and any other insect, which they immediately eat, decapitating them with their teeth. They also consume water by lapping it up like a dog.

In a day, a tarsier can eat approximately 10% of its weight in food. In addition, it has many natural enemies, which include birds (owls). The greatest damage is caused to them by people and feral cats.

People have tried many times to tame this animal, but an animal born in captivity wants space, which is why tarsiers have repeatedly attempted to escape. They are very freedom-loving animals, but people try to take that away from them.

Usually price on tarsier It depends on the animal itself and the place where it will be purchased. The lowest price will be in close proximity to their habitat.

Reproduction and lifespan

Tarsiers are considered loners and can only be seen in pairs during the breeding season. According to some sources, a male can date several females at once, as a result of which only one baby can be born.

On average, a female's pregnancy lasts about six months, and the child is immediately born as a very developed animal. He grabs his mother's stomach and moves through the trees with her. During the first seven weeks of life, he drinks mother's milk, and later switches to animal food.

Today these animals are in great danger. After all, man not only destroys the forests where they live, but also tries to make tarsier lemur pets. Very often they succeed in doing this, but in captivity the animals quickly die.

The female tarsier has several nipples, but when feeding her baby she uses only the breast pair. After a month, after birth, the cub can jump in trees. The father does not take any part in raising the child. Tarsiers do not make nests for their babies, since the mother constantly carries the child with her.

The animal reaches sexual maturity after one year of life. After one year they leave their mother and begin to live independently. Average, goggle-eyed tarsier has a lifespan of about 10 years.

The life record for this animal in captivity was 13.5 years. They are the size of an adult's palm and spend most of their time sleeping. Every year their number decreases, which is why this animal is protected in order to save this unusual species.