Pygmy Tarsier Captured in Indonesia: Gremlins Not Extinct as Thought

According to several reports, including those from Yahoo News and Live Science, the pygmy tarsier, a species thought to be extinct around 85 years ago has been found and captured in Indonesia. The pygmy tarsiers, sometimes referred to as gremlins because of their resemblance to a movie creature with that name, are a tiny primate species currently inhabiting a mountaintop in Indonesia.

A pygmy tarsier, while tiny (about the size of amouse), can apparently be vicious as well. Just ask scientist Sharon Gursky-Doyen of Texas A&M University. She, along with a grad student of hers and a group of locals from Indonesia went on the expedition to discover the pygmy tarsier. One bit her on the finger during the team's efforts to fit it with a radio collar for tracking purposes.

Reportedly, the pygmy tarsier has the ability to rotate its head 180 degrees, giving it an interesting advantage. That is how one of these so-called gremlins was able to bite Gursky-Doyen, who remarked

"As I'm trying to close the radio collar, he turned his head and nipped my finger. And I yanked it and I was bleeding." The bite may have been a tiny inconvenience, but now she's got an amazing story to tell, stating, "I'm the only person in the world to ever be bitten by a pygmy tarsier."

According to Wikipedia, the last pygmy tarsier seen was a dead one accidentally killed by scientists from Indonesia who were trapping rats. That was in 2000. However, until recently, no pygmy tarsier has been seen alive since around 1921. Sharon Gursky-Doyen and her team have been tracking the pygmy tarsier in Indonesia for months and just recently were able to capture and fit them with radio collars.

The capture of the tiny primate species likely has some, especially animal rights activists, wondering if it is humane to track this species or whether they should just be left alone. That answer may not be a simple one, as there are many factors to consider on both sides of the fence.

If these creatures that resemble gremlins carry diseases, it may be wise to track their habits and determine if they could be a threat to humans. The fact that they do bite may add more reason to do this. However, some may argue that since they live so high in the mountains and it took such effort to find them in the first place, the tiny primates are not likely to cause too much concern for humans.

Then, there's the science factor. Some will argue that all living species should be tracked and observed for the sake of science. Doing so could give researchers data and facts that were previously unknown about the pygmy tarsier.

Whatever you believe, in regards to the tracking of the pygmy tarsier, you will likely agree that the discovery of the tiny primates is amazing.

Sources:

Yahoo News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081118/sc_nm/us_primate_indonesia

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_Tarsier

Live Science

http://www.livescience.com/animals/081118-long-lost-primate.html