Dian’s tarsier  (Tarsius dentatus)

Description

Weighing around just 100 grams, the six currently recognised tarsier species are amongst the smallest primates to exist (4), and demonstrate some of the most highly specialised features of the primate world. As an adaptation to their nocturnal lifestyle, these extraordinary animals possess the largest eyes relative to their body weight of any mammal (5). The huge chestnut-brown eyes cannot move, so the head has evolved the ability to turn 180 degrees, allowing a wide field of vision (6). Additionally, tarsiers possess specially-adapted, elongated tarsus bones, for which they earn their Latin and common name (6); their long hind limbs enabling these vertical-clingers-and-leapers to jump more than a remarkable 40 times their own length (5). The fingers are also long and slender and form a very effective cage to trap insects in the darkness of the forest night (5). Dian’s tarsier has a woolly, greyish-buff coat, whitish hairs on the upper lip, and a naked tail with a long, bushy tuft covering the latter half (2) (5) (6).

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