Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Tarsiidae
Common Name: Philippine Tarsier
What is a tarsier? Tarsiers are the smallest species of monkeys, and wholly carnivores. They have enormous eyes, a long tail, pads at the ends of each of their fingers and toes and, have big round ears that help them hunt better. These pads let them climb very well. Their large eyes are excellent at seeing at night. These animals are nocturnal, which means that they hunt and stay awake at night and sleep in the day. Its scientific name is Tarsius. Order is Oligocene Epoch primate. Genus is Tarsius. Family is Tarsiidae. Species are the Philippines Tarsier, Western Tarsier, and the Spectral Tarsier. Its common name is obviously the Tarsier. You find a tarsier in the islands of the Philippines including Mindanao, Letye, Samar and Bohol. They also live in the lowlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia and in the island of Southeast Asia. Tarsiers range from about 6 inches in height not including the tail. They weigh between 3 & 4 oz (85 & 110 grams). Their length including the tail is about 16 inches. Tarsiers become sexually matured at the age of one. Their breeding period goes throughout the year. A female's gestation period is about six months. Each female tarsier can only bear one young at a time. Their life span goes about 8 years or more depending on where they are living. A tarsier's diet consists of eating insects, lizards, worms, and other very small animals. Tarsiers seem to be insectivorous and carnivorous. They drink several times each night. Prey is caught invariably by leaping at it, pinning it down by one or both hands, and killing or at least immobilizing it by several bites. The victim, often caught on the ground, is carried in the mouth to a perch, where it is eaten head first. For the head-hunting Iban people of Borneo, the tarsiers once played an important role as a totem animal. Since the head of this small, nocturnal