Pygmy Tarsiers Fun Facts

The Pygmy Tarsier, a bit like a cross between a Furby and a tiny monkey, has just been rediscovered. This furry primate has not been seen in over 85 years, which led scientists to believe that it was extinct, according to Texas A&M University .

The pygmy tarsiers, weighing a mere 2 ounces, have body lengths of about 4 inches and claws on its digits instead of nails (unlike normal mammals). Even so, a pygmy tarsier can have eyes up to 16mm in diameter, making for a cute facial feature and thoughts of "Can we take him home please?" The tarsiers are nocturnal, meaning they come out only at night to feed and play, while sleeping during the daylight hours within the top layer of forest canopy. They do not make many sounds, as they rely heavily on touch and feel to communicate, which makes them incredibly difficult to find. They are the only primates to be completely carnivorous, eating insects for their juicy insides and crunchy outer shell. Sometimes, if they feel like it, they will dine on small birds, rodents, and snakes.

Since they were last collected for a museum in 1921, there have been no records of pygmy tarsier sightings, up until 2000 during which some Indonesian scientists in Sulawesi, Indonesia, reported that they accidentally trapped and killed one, effectively solidifying many scientists' thoughts that they were extinct. They thought, if they weren't extinct before, then now they are.

Shannon Gursky-Doyen, an anthropologist at Texas A&M University, along with one of her students Nanda Grow, trapped 3 of the tarsies in late August. They spotted a 4th one, but it got smart and ran away. Over a period of 2 months, the scientists trapped 2 males and 1 female at a national park in Central Sulawesi, using 276 mist nets and attaching radio collars to the tarsiers' necks in order to track movement. Professor Gursky-Doyen attributes the pygmy tarsiers having claws rather than nails to the fact that the highlands of the mountains they were discovered in were covered with different types of mosses, limiting movement and making everything slippery. She says that the pygmy tarsiers can also turn their heads 180 degrees (most likely so they don't slip on any moss).

She hopes that since now she has raised awareness, the Indonesian government will do something to protect the creatures, who live in a national park that is threatened by encroaching development from neighboring villages.

Fun Facts:

- Cannot move its eyes, so it must turn its head to hunt.

- Can leap over 3 meters in length.

- Has extremely dense fur so it can stay warm.

- Offspring begin hunting at age 42. Days.

- They are mean little creatures, as Shannon Gursky-Doyen is the only person in the world to have been bit by a pygmy tarsier.

Sources

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

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wmonkey19/BNStory/Science/home

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

http://dmc-news.tamu.edu/templates/?a=6991&z=15