He is tarsier 7 letters. Philippine tarsier: interesting facts, photos

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 the tarsiers.

Depending on the point of view, there are from three to eight species of tarsiers. While five of these can be considered subspecies, the following have undisputed species status:

• tarsier bankan ( Tarsius bancanus)
• Philippine tarsier ( Tarsius syrichta)
• ghost tarsier ( Tarsius spectrum)

Spreading

Tarsiers live in Southeast Asia, primarily on the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Philippines and many adjacent islands.

Characteristic

Tarsiers are small animals, their height is from 9 to 16 cm. In addition, they have a bare tail 13 to 28 cm long. Weight varies from 80 to 160 grams. They are especially distinguished by long hind limbs, a large head that can turn almost 360 °, as well as good hearing. The fingers are extremely long, the ears are round and bare. Soft wool has a brown or grayish tint. However, the most noticeable feature is the large eyes, up to 16 mm in diameter. In projection to human height, the eyes of tarsiers correspond to the size of an apple.

Behavior

Philippine tarsier

Tarsiers are active primarily at night. They live in trees in forests, hiding in dense vegetation during the day. Tarsiers are able to climb trees very deftly, and also jump several meters with the help of long hind legs. As a rule, tarsiers live in pairs, sometimes also in small groups.

Food

The main food of tarsiers is insects, in addition to them they also eat small vertebrates. Tarsiers are the only primates that feed exclusively on animal food. They use their ability to jump to stun their prey. For a day, tarsiers can take food that is 10% of their weight.

reproduction

The gestation period for tarsiers is quite long (about 6 months), the cub is born already in a well-developed state. At first, he clings to the mother's stomach, or she carries him, taking her scruff with her teeth. After seven weeks, he switches from milk to meat food. Young tarsiers reach sexual maturity at the age of one year. The oldest known tarsier has a lifespan of 13 years (in captivity).

Tarsiers and people

The main threat to tarsiers is the destruction of their habitat. In addition, they are still hunted for their meat. Attempts to tame tarsiers and make them pets are not successful and usually lead to the death of the animal after a short time. Tarsiers cannot get used to captivity; in an attempt to escape, they often smash their heads against the bars of cages.

Tarsiers in culture and art

In the past the tarsier played big role in the mythology and superstition of the peoples of Indonesia. The Indonesians thought that the heads of tarsiers were not attached to the body (since they could rotate almost 360 °), and were afraid to collide with them, because they believed that the same fate could happen to people in this case.

The Filipinos considered tarsiers to be the pets of the forest spirits.

In the anime series Animatrix in the episode "Accepted" (Eng. Matriculated) manual tarsier Kid (eng. Baby) is used as an observer during the war between people and machines and is able to connect to the reality simulation program on an equal basis with people.

Links

• Tarsiers in culture and art on the Philippines.RU portal

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See what "tarsier" is in other dictionaries:

Tarsier…

Ex., number of synonyms: 3 mammal (202) semi-monkey (16) primate (61) ... Synonym dictionary

- (Tarsius) an animal from the order of prosimians, Prosimiae, belonging to a special family, Tarsiidae, with the only genus Tarsius and with one so far firmly established view Tarsius spectrum Geoffr. Many structural features of D. give this animal ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

tarsier- tarsier, but ... Russian spelling dictionary

Philippine tarsier scientific classification Kingdom ... Wikipedia

Philippine tarsier Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type: Chordates ... Wikipedia

Ghost tarsier, ghost tarsier... Spelling Dictionary

ghost tarsier- rytinis ilgakulnis statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Tarsius spectrum English. celebrity tarsier; celebrity tarsier; dusky handed tarsier; eastern tarsier; yellow bearded tarsier vok. Celebes Koboldmaki rus … Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

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

The Philippine tarsier has the most attractive eyes. Except them 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 big eyes, if we compare their ratio to the head. But it's not the only one large part monkey body. This little animal has which complement the amazing image 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 the claws of the second and third fingers. Interestingly, the other phalanges do not have claws. Tarsiers are grayish or dark brown in color.

Tarsier 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, proposed below, shows that the baby has well-developed facial muscles.

Thanks to them, the baby can make grimaces, like a real monkey. And his head can turn more than 180 degrees to see what's going on behind him.

Lifestyle

This animal leads active life in nighttime. 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. Fitted in a special way ears and eyes allow him to remain a good hunter. The animal's diet includes insects, worms, spiders and even small vertebrates. In order for the food to get into the mouth, the animal brings it up, 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 up to 13 years, but it is in captivity.

reproduction

Tarsiers are surprisingly territorial animals.

The area of ​​​​the possessions 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 (spring or autumn), the male visits all his ladies, after which they begin a long pregnancy. Develops within six months future baby, 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.

Tarsier 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 were convinced 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 by hitting the walls and trying to escape. Those lucky ones who have taken root in 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.

Species extinction

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, along which the tarsier began to disappear, are 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 feasting on 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, Philippine tarsier in this moment protected by international law. The sale and purchase of this animal is strictly prohibited. To keep this rare view 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.

Some interesting facts

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

And now here's a beast.

Tarsius, the only genus of prosimians of the tarsiers family (Tarsidae), the exact position of tarsiers in taxonomy has not been determined. The genus includes three modern look. In the Paleocene and Miocene of Europe and North America, tarsiers were widely represented.

Tarsiers how separate view have been known for a long time, but earlier they were mistakenly classified as a suborder of semi-monkeys, although in given time on the basis of a number of signs they are classified as dry-nosed monkeys. The ancestors of tarsiers are called mammals from the Omomyidae family, which, however, did not last so long and died out in the Oligocene.

Tarsiers are small animals; the length of the head and body is 8.5-16 cm, the tail is long (13.5-27 cm), naked, with a tuft of hair at the end. Body weight 95-165 g. Large round head, wide and short muzzle, with very large eyes (up to 16 mm in diameter, that is, only ten times smaller than the animal itself, which is still found only in cuttlefish). The head can be rotated 180°. Tarsier eyes glow in the dark. The ears are large, bare and mobile. The mouth is wide.

Modern tarsiers have survived in Southeast Asia, on the islands of the Malay Archipelago. These are Philippine tarsier, or sirihta (Tarsius syrichta), Bankan tarsier (Celebes tarsier, western tarsier; Tarsius bancanus) and ghost tarsier (poppies, eastern tarsier, Sunda tarsier; Tarsius spectrum). Each species is found only on certain islands. So, sirihta is found in the Philippines (the islands of Mindanao, Samar, Leyte, Bohol); Bankan tarsier - on the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Banka, Serasan; ghost tarsier - in Sulawesi, Salayar.

The ghost tarsier has the largest eyes of all mammals, relative to body size, yellow and glowing in the dark. locals they consider these tarsiers to be sorcerers and are afraid of them. Ghost tarsiers live alone or in pairs, are nocturnal in tropical rainforests, usually in lowland and coastal areas, found in bamboo thickets, in small trees or in lightened primary forests.

Ghost tarsiers feed on insects, spiders, and lizards. They lap water, just like lemurs. They love to hunt for crabs and fish.

Animals move by jumping up to 1 m long. They jump from branch to branch or from tree to tree, sometimes like frogs. The tail during the jump serves as a rudder for them. They often hunt in pairs, rarely in threes or fours.

Ghost tarsiers breed regardless of the season. After six months of pregnancy, 1 cub is born, covered with wool, with open eyes. He immediately clings to the hair on his mother's stomach with all his limbs, he can even climb the branches on his own. During movement, the mother carries the cub with her mouth, like a cat carries a kitten. Nothing is known about the period of lactation and maturation of the cub. All tarsiers are listed in the International Red Book.

Tarsiers live on Earth for at least 45 million years, this is one of the oldest species animals in the Philippines. Once upon a time tarsiers were widespread in Europe, Asia and North America, but now they can only be found in remote corners of the planet

If a tarsier he is very dissatisfied with something, he makes a thin squeak. With the help of voice, tarsiers can communicate, report on the boundaries of their territories and call on partners, but it is generally noted that tarsiers much less vocal than other primates. Maximum recorded lifespan Philippine tarsier- 13.5 years (in captivity).

Indigenous people Indonesia and the Philippine Islands associated the ridiculous appearance of the tarsier with the tricks of evil spirits. However, many of our contemporaries, who first see the tarsier in its native habitat, remain amazed at its non-standard appearance.

Particularly impressionable tourists even say that when they first see how huge shining eyes stare at them without blinking, and the next moment the animal turns its head almost 360 degrees and you look straight at the back of its head, it becomes, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. By the way, local natives still believe that the head tarsiers exists separately from the body. Well, this is all speculation, of course, but the facts are obvious!

Do the superstitions of local residents help to protect rare animals, or, on the contrary, interfere with this process? It is rather difficult to answer unambiguously. Sometimes they hinder, and sometimes they help. And if in the first case these superstitions should be fought, then in the second it is better to leave everything as it is. Because it will help save endangered species.

Methods of nature conservation can be very diverse and sometimes, needless to say, original. Nevertheless, all organizations involved in this noble cause agree that without the broad involvement of local residents in the process, it is unlikely that anything will come of it. That is why their members carry out educational activities among the population, the effectiveness of which was proved by the activities of Gerald Durrell (read more about this in the article "Secrets of Gerald Durrell"). However, sometimes animal rights activists do not have to fight local superstitions about animals or plants, but, on the contrary, encourage them.

A very illustrative example of such a strategy is the history of the conservation of tarsiers ( Tarsius). This genus of ancient and charming primates includes four species: western tarsier ( T.bancanus), otherwise called Bankan, Philippine tarsier ( T.syrichta), Eastern tarsier ( T.spectrum), also known as ghost tarsier, and pygmy tarsier ( T.pumilus). These animals are common in tropical forests Philippines, as well as on the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and many other islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

Previously, tarsiers were classified as a group of semi-monkeys ( Prosimiae) and considered relatives of African lemurs ( Lemuriformes) and galago ( Galagonidae), as well as Asiatic lorises ( Loridae). However, recent studies of their DNA have shown that these creatures have nothing in common with them. Their closest relatives are those who were previously called true monkeys, and are now classified as dry-nosed monkeys ( Haplorrhini), while the above groups refer to the ancient, or strep-nosed monkeys ( Strepsirrhini). That is, the tarsier turned out to be much closer to you and me than, for example, the funny ring-tailed lemur (remember King Julian from Madagascar?).

Paleontological data show that tarsiers appeared about 50 million years ago. Their ancestors lived in the east of Eurasia and North America. Apparently, their way of life was not much different from that of the modern representatives of the group - these small mobile animals lived alone, in pairs or in small groups in trees, slept during the day, and hunted for insects and small vertebrates at night.

Various arboreal rodents, insectivorous birds and more highly developed primates that gradually appeared later replaced the timid, shy and, frankly, rather primitive tarsiers from larger area their former range. That is why, to our time, they have survived only on those islands where their competitors could not reach. So by the time they were settled by humans, the tarsier was already quite a rare animal. Nevertheless, it was people, oddly enough, who in some places helped him survive and even increase his numbers.

Most likely, his very original appearance helped the tarsier. These animals, whose body length is only 9-16 centimeters (add another 28-centimeter bare tail here), have long hind limbs, a large head that can turn almost 360 degrees, extremely long fingers and large rounded and completely hairless ears. . All this makes the tarsier look like some kind of surreal Cheburashka. But the most noticeable thing about this primate is its huge eyes, more than two centimeters in diameter. So, the one who meets him at night will see them first of all (by the way, they still glow with yellow light).

It is not surprising that, having such an outstanding appearance, the tarsier immediately became an object of veneration for many local tribes. Some tribes living in the Philippines consider these animals to be the spirits of their ancestors. Others are pets of the forest gods. Accordingly, in both cases, it is not recommended to offend these animals - otherwise the supernatural forces will be angry not only with the blasphemer, but also with all his relatives and friends.

Therefore, the inhabitants of the Philippines not only do not touch the tarsiers themselves, but also punish tourists and poachers who try to catch these cute and harmless animals (which, by the way, do not tolerate captivity very well, because they do not tolerate bright light and loud sounds). Sometimes it comes even to the murder of "black trappers" at the crime scene. Of course, this is not good, however, whatever one may say, it helps a lot to protect this very rare animal. So for the fate of tarsiers living next to those who idolize them, you can be completely calm. By the way, according to American zoologists, their number in these areas is recent times has increased significantly.

However, in some places, tarsiers, on the contrary, are afraid. A number of Indonesian peoples consider the tarsier to be a werewolf, whose head can separate from the body and attack people (something like the Japanese roku-kubori). However, this also contributes to its protection - frightened poachers and animal catchers try not to go to the places where this primate lives. And in some places in the Philippines, they believe that tarsier looking into a person’s eyes for a long time can send madness on him. The most interesting thing is that, oddly enough, there is a certain amount of truth in this superstition.

In the 1950s, there was one in the Philippines tragic story. A US Air Force soldier stationed there got lost in the jungle one night. After wandering through the forest for many hours, he lay down to rest. His awakening was a nightmare: right in front of him sat a ghost with a bared mouth and two fireballs instead of eyes. Crazed with fear, the man with a cry rushed to run ahead through the thicket. When the unfortunate man was found, he endlessly repeated one phrase: "These eyes! These eyes!" After examining the victim, it became clear that he had lost his mind (according to other sources, he died of a heart attack shortly after returning to the base).

The authorities of this military base, in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, turned to zoologists for help. Those who arrived at the place organized a series of lectures in which the soldiers were told about who the tarsiers were and why they should not be afraid. In order to collect visual material in the form of films and photographs, scientists spent a lot of time in the jungle, as a result of which they studied the lifestyle and all the habits of Philippine tarsiers. As a result, it also helped employees environmental organizations- after all, when you know everything about an animal, it is much easier to protect it. So, as you can see, even negative superstitions help keep tarsiers from extinction (by the way, Philippine tarsiers are listed in the International "Red Book" on the "green" sheets, that is, they are considered rare, but not endangered species).

Unfortunately, the superstitions of local residents are not always a "talisman" for rare animals. Sometimes the opposite happens as well. An example of this is the sad story of the persecution by the locals of a very rare lemur, whose name is the Madagascar little arm, or aye-aye ( Daubentonia madagascariensis). The appearance of this animal is known to many - it is to this species belongs to King Julian's adviser Maurice from the cartoon "Madagascar".

Aye-ayes live in the north of Madagascar in mountain or riverine forests. Just like tarsiers, they live in pairs or alone, sleeping during the day and climbing trees at night in search of insects. It is interesting that their main food is the larvae hiding under the bark of trees, which the animals discover by tapping the tree trunks with their big middle finger of the front paws. They also take out the found food.

It turns out that ecologically they fulfill the role of woodpeckers absent on the island, only instead of a beak they use their own, according to the local population, "magic" finger. So aye-aye can be safely called the orderlies of the forest. However, people living in Madagascar do not at all respect them for such activities (as we do woodpeckers), but on the contrary, they do not like them very much. Since they believe that the hands are the spirits of death and any of their appearance near the village leads to the death of one of the inhabitants.

It is not surprising that aye-aye were exterminated wherever they were found in the past. So they would have destroyed everyone, but scientists and animal advocates intervened in time. Now in Madagascar, a large-scale educational work is underway, during which it is explained to residents that these animals are not only harmless, but, on the contrary, are very useful. By the way, at the origins of this activity was the same Gerald Durrell, who visited Madagascar in the early 90s of the last century.

His expedition captured six aye aye, which were transported to the Jersey Zoo, where they became the founders of the now large reserve population of these rare animals. However, while working to catch the animals, Darrell and his assistants arranged lectures for local residents, showed them films about rukonozhki and in every possible way convinced them not to kill these cute and funny animals. After such propaganda of "the harmlessness of aye-aye" was supported by the government of the island. As a result, now things are not so bad with the rukonozhka - by 1994, when they managed to stop their extermination, there were already about a thousand individuals in the nature of these animals. And until now, their numbers are constantly growing (in addition, in various reserve populations in zoos and scientific centers there are approximately 300 arms).

Tarsiers, or Tarsius, are a genus of primates that is subdivided into at least 3 species. Formerly they were assigned to the prosimian suborder, which is now considered obsolete; at present they are considered one of the families of dry-nosed monkeys (highly developed monkeys and humans also belong to it).

The smallest primates got their name for very long ankles - “heels” - on their hind limbs.

The opinions of scientists about the number of species of tarsiers are divided - some believe that there are three such species, while others believe that there are eight. In total, 11 varieties of tarsiers are known, among them - the western tarsier, the eastern tarsier, the Philippine tarsier, the pygmy tarsier and the diana tarsier.

Tarsiers make a great impression on tourists. It is difficult to realize that there is an animal on earth whose head is capable of turning 180 and even almost 360 degrees. There is something mystical, unreal in this.

Classification of tarsiers.

In the 18th century, the Philippine tarsier was first described. He was described by Catholic missionaries and called a tiny monkey. Later, Carl Linnaeus discovered that the tarsier was different from monkeys and renamed it the Sirichta monkey.

And even later, this name was supplemented by a generic name and turned into the tarsiers of the siriht. So the Philippine tarsier is called to this day.

The islanders have many of their own names for tarsier, the most common of them is maomag or mago.

Curiously, tarsiers have features of both lemurs (semi-primates) and true monkeys. In fact, they are a transitional link from lemurs to real monkeys.

They are related to lemurs by the weak development of both hemispheres of the brain (they do not cover the cerebellum) and the claws on the second toes of the hind legs, and with monkeys - eye sockets separated by a bony septum from the temples and a rounded skull.

But some signs (the structure of the intestines or teeth) are not at all characteristic of modern primates, which indirectly indicates more ancient origin tarsiers.

It seems that tarsiers have never been lemurs, but they may well be conventionally called monkeys. Such are the peculiar animals that break the usual classification of animals.

There is also a very interesting hypothesis put forward in 1916 by Professor Frederick Wood Jones. According to this hypothesis, man descended from ancient tarsiers, and not from great apes as has been assumed until now. Here are the main points of the hypothesis:

· When moving on a horizontal surface, tarsiers hold the body vertically - this could become the basis of a person's upright posture.

· The body proportions of humans and tarsiers are similar - their arms are shorter than their legs, while the opposite is true for great apes.

· The direction of hair growth of tarsiers and humans is also similar, which cannot be said about great apes.

The facial region of the skull is shortened

The structure of the clavicles and some muscles are very similar in tarsiers and humans.

So tarsier may well be our ancestor.

Habitat of tarsiers.

Ancestors of the tarsier existed as far back as the Eocene in North America and Eurasia, it is one of the most ancient animal species in the Philippines, which has existed for at least 45 million years.

Now their habitat has been significantly reduced and reduced to just a few islands.

Basically, tarsiers are island inhabitants of Southeast Asia, they can be found on the islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo and other islands close to them.

Description appearance tarsiers.

Tarsiers are quite small animals, up to a maximum of 16 cm in height. Long hairless, with sparse hairs, the tail varies in length from 13 to 28 cm and ends with a fluffy tassel. The mass of an average animal is from 80 to 160 g.

Males are larger than females, weighing an average of 134g, while females weigh approximately 117g. The hind limbs are longer than the front ones and allow them to jump over decent distances, up to several meters, in case of danger.

Sufficiently large in comparison with the length of the body, the head is capable of turning almost 360 degrees, the mouth is wide, with thick lips, and the neck is short. Tarsiers have good hearing and a fairly large brain.

These are the only ones known to science primates that are able to communicate with each other on ultrasonic waves. They hear sounds up to 90 kHz and communicate at a frequency of about 70 kHz.

It is noted that when dissatisfied with something, the tarsier makes a sound like a thin squeak. Tarsiers use their voice to mark the boundaries of their territories, call on partners, but in general they use their voice much less often than all other primates.

These cute animals have 34 vertical teeth, the upper teeth are larger than the lower ones. They have funny very long fingers on all limbs, ending in sucker thickenings - this design of the fingers makes it easier for them to climb trees.

All fingers, except for the second and third, end in flat nails, while the second and third have sharp claws that small animals use to comb their fur. When climbing with fingers, the tarsier wraps around a branch, leaving the thumbs behind.

Ears are bare round shape, are in constant motion and are also very mobile, like small locators; soft, pleasant to the touch coat of a grayish or brownish hue.

Their most noticeable feature is large round yellow or yellow-brown eyes up to 16mm in diameter. If we correlate the length of their body with the length of the human body, then the size of their eyes will correspond to an apple. In addition, they also glow in the dark.

According to the ratio of the size of the eye to the size of the head and body, tarsiers are listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Remarkably, the weight of the eye is greater than the weight of the brain.

There are facial muscles on the face of the tarsier, so the expression of his face can change, which makes little animal looking like a human.

Tarsier lifestyle.

The greatest activity in tarsiers at night is predominantly nocturnal primates. They live in trees, and during the day they hide among dense vegetation or in hollows, where, as usual, they sleep sweetly until evening.

They climb trees very dexterously, and can also jump like grasshoppers. They use their tail to achieve balance, like little tightrope walkers. The denser the vegetation, the better for them. They almost never come down to the ground.

Tarsiers lead a solitary lifestyle, they can be separated by more than one kilometer in wildlife, each of them has its own territory. One male usually occupies up to 6.45 hectares of forest, and a female - up to 2.45 hectares.

The density of animals per 100 ha, as a rule, is 41 females and 16 males. In a day, the tarsier can easily travel a distance of one and a half kilometers while bypassing its vast territory.

You can meet a male with a female only in mating season, on the full moon of December-January. But in special reserves, tarsiers may well live in small groups.

Tarsier nutrition.

The basis of the diet of tarsiers are representatives of the class of insects as well as small vertebrates (lizards) and even small birds. The uniqueness of these primates is also that they are the only ones among primates who do not eat plant foods.

So small, but still predatory. They use jumps to stun or stun their prey. Having caught an insect, they bring it to their mouth with one or two paws.

They can eat up to 10% of their weight per day, i.e. from 8 to 16 g. Most of all they like locust species of insects, cracking down on them, the animals actually become "forest orderlies".

Reproduction of tarsiers.

Tarsiers do not build nests for their young. Pregnancy in female tarsiers lasts up to 6 months, the cub is born fully developed, sighted and with good grasping reflexes, it weighs about 27 g at birth.

Tarsiers have the slowest developing embryo, which gains only 23 grams during intrauterine development! Having been born, the baby clings to the mother's stomach, or the mother carries it, taking the scruff of the neck with her teeth.

And, although the female tarsier has several pairs of nipples, she uses only the breast pair to feed the cub.

Tarsier males are not seen in the upbringing and feeding of the younger generation.

After seven weeks, the baby will finally switch to meat food. And in almost a month the cub will be able to jump. Young tarsiers become sexually mature by one year. Life expectancy in nature is unknown, and in captivity is a maximum of 13 years - among those known to science.

Researchers presumably consider tarsiers to be monogamous primates, although this has yet to be proven.

Enemies of tarsiers.

The main enemy of tarsiers are people. Destroying their living environment, cutting down forests, people deprive small primates of their habitat. Locals also hunt for them, because of the delicious meat.

All attempts to tame tarsiers ended in the death of animals after a fairly short time. Toddlers cannot get used to captivity and often smash their heads against the bars of the cage, trying to escape.

The Philippine tarsier is endemic, living on only a few islands in the Philippines and is currently under threat of extinction.

Birds of prey (owls) and wild cats also contribute to the extinction of tarsiers.

That is why in 1986 this species of primates was given the status of a species that is endangered. Dolgopyatov protects both local and international legislation, their purchase and sale is prohibited, which is very useful for tourists to know.

Do not try to acquire this animal for yourself - you will not only break the law, but also endanger the life of a small animal, because it is quite difficult to provide it with an uninterrupted supply of insects. Instead, buy yourself a stuffed tarsier toy as a consolation.

In 1997, with the aim of restoring and preserving natural environment To increase the number of tarsiers, the Philippine Tarsier Foundation was established in the province of Bohol. The Foundation acquired an area of ​​7.4 hectares and established the Tarsier Center.

There tarsiers are kept in conditions that are as similar as possible to their usual habitat, there are no predators there, feeding is provided for the animals, they are shown to visitors.

But if desired, the animals can always get over the fence, some do this at night, and come back in the morning.

The possibility of acquiring an additional 20 hectares of land and limiting tourists' access to small primates is currently under discussion.

The role of tarsiers in culture and art.

In past centuries, the peoples of Indonesia were afraid of tarsiers and created various myths about them. For example, due to the ability to rotate their heads almost 360 degrees, the Indonesians believed that their heads were not attached to the body, and if you meet them, then the same thing will happen to a person.

Tarsier managed to get into the movies - in the anime series "Animatrix" there is a manual tarsier Baby (Baby).