One of the most amazing creatures is the tarsiers that live in the Philippines. Having looked at him, it is already difficult to look away at something else until you have thoroughly admired this monkey. This creature is the smallest of all primates. His height is measured in a few centimeters. An adult reaches only 16 centimeters. It usually weighs no more than 160 grams.
Appearance of the animal
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 “ghost tarsier”. No other mammal has such large eyes, if we compare their ratio to the head. But this is not the only large part of the monkey's body. This little animal has protruding ears that complement the amazing look of the crumbs. The muzzle of the animal has a slightly flattened appearance, unlike other primates, because of this, its sense of smell is not very well developed. The tarsier brain has relatively large volumes. The baby's fur is very soft and wavy to the touch. He takes care of her, combing her with clawssecond and third fingers. Interestingly, the other phalanges do not have claws. Tarsiers are grayish or dark brown in color.
Tasier Abilities
The paws of the animal are adapted for jumping and climbing trees. The forelimbs are slightly shortened, but the hind limbs are more elongated in the heel. Now it becomes clear where the name "tarsier" came from. The fingers of the animal are equipped with pads, and their phalanges are so exquisitely made that they resemble a small hand. The tail of the primate remains bald and ends with a tassel. He uses it like a balancer while jumping. The size of this kind of "steering wheel" exceeds the length of the body. It is also worth noting one feature that the Philippine tarsier has. The photo of the animal below shows that the baby has well developed facial muscles.
Thanks to them, the baby can squint his eyes and make faces, like a real monkey. And his head can turn more than 180 degrees to see what's behind him.
Lifestyle
This animal leads an active life at night. With the onset of dawn, he hides in bushes, in small trees, in bamboo or in grass. This disguise allows you to hide from prying eyes. At night, the Philippine tarsier comes 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,squeezing it with two paws. The tarsier moves mainly by jumping, although it can alternately move its legs and climb. At a time, he is able to overcome as much as one and a half kilometers! Tarsier can live 13 years, but it is in captivity.
Reproduction
The tarsier is surprisingly territorial.
The area of possession of one male can be 6 hectares, several females usually live in its open spaces, in which their own 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. Within six months, the future baby develops, which by the time of birth will weigh only 23 grams. The cub is born with eyes already open, and this is what distinguishes the Philippine tarsier from other primates. The photo above shows a mother with a baby. The father is not involved in the upbringing of his offspring. While the children are small, they are everywhere with a nurse. They move by grabbing their mother's fur coat. At the moment when the baby begins to independently obtain food, he goes in search of a separate territory.
Talsiers and man
Because of the unusual appearance, many would like to tame this tiny animal. Those who had such an opportunity tried to do this and made sure that it was almost impossible to raise a personal pet from the crumbs, since they are wild animals. Small caged animals try to get out, and many have broken their heads when they hitwalls and trying to escape. Those lucky ones who have taken root in this primacy 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.
Disappearing species
Now this little animal lives only on the island of Bohol. In this area, there will be no more than 200 individuals, since the animal dies at a high speed. The first main reason why tarsier began to disappear is hunters. To catch the monkey, they cut down trees and shake their branches. From fear, these crumbs squeak thinly and change the expression of their faces. But poachers are not the only threat. Birds of prey are very fond of eating a small animal and also hunt it.
What is being done to preserve the species
The local population treats the tarsiers with care and is afraid of harming them, because they believe that they are pets of the spirits that live in their forest. The people are sure that after harming the baby, its invisible owner will avenge him. In addition, the Philippine tarsier is currently protected by international law. The sale and purchase of this animal is strictly prohibited. To preserve this rare species of mammal, the government on about. Bohol, back in the 20th century, organized the creation of a center in which the animal is provided with safety. Arriving here, tourists have the opportunity to look at the tarsier with their own eyes and even take a photo of it.
A few fun facts
Like every animal, these also have their own interesting features, which will be informative to read about:
- The Philippine tarsier is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the owner of the largest eyes in relation to the body.
- The ears of this primate are always in motion.
- The baby is capable of making jumps of several meters. So he gets from tree to tree without touching the ground.
- These animals of the Philippines used to live in Asia, Europe and North America, but they were chased away by more ferocious predators.
- Those who have never met a tarsier before are usually very scared when they first see this "eye" live.
- These animals are able to send each other messages about possible danger.
- This primate is the only one among all its brethren whose diet consists exclusively of live food.
- Tasiers don't make their own homes.
- The animal lives upstairs all its life and very rarely touches the surface of the earth.
- Many argue that big-eyed crumbs are the smallest primates. The species of monkeys and semi-monkeys are so diverse that the tarsier in this list loses to the mouse lemur. The body of this animal is only ten centimeters, with a tail it grows up to 20! Although the body of our applicant is not much ahead of the lemur, nevertheless, with a tail, he loses to him.
- And last. Very often tarsierscalled a monkey, but this is not entirely true. They, like lemurs, have their own species in the primate family.
But the signals sent are not audible to humans as they use ultrasonic waves.
