Not a monkey?
This endemic species has long been mistakenly referred
to as a monkey - "the smallest monkey in the world". The truth is that, though tarsiers are in a taxonomic suborder by themselves
among primates, they are more closely related to lemurs, lorises and bushbabies which are prosimians, as opposed to monkeys
and apes which are anthropoids. What is being recognized as the smallest primate in the world is the pygmy mouse lemur found
only in Madagascar.
The tarsier along with the lemur, tree shrew and loris,
in fact belongs to the more primitive suborder Prosimii or prosimian. Tarsiers are probably the most advanced group of prosimians
in relation to the higher primates.
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Primates
- Suborder : Prosimii/Haplorrhini
- Infraorder: Tarsiiformes
- Superfamily: Tarsioidea
Where do we find the Philippine Tarsier?
The Philippine Tarsier is found in the southern Philippine
islands of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.
It is variously known to the natives as "mamag", "mago",
"magau", "maomag", "malmag" and "magatilok-iok".
Is there only one kind of Philippine Tarsier?
Three very similar species have been described from several
islands of the southern Philippines. It is possible that these three species belong to one species which have been developed
into three races in the various islands. These are:
- T. philippensis - Samar and Leyte
- T. fraterculus -- Bohol
- T. carbonarius -- Mindanao The Philippine
tarsier possesses various distinctive characteristics and habits that have made it an object of both scientific research and
Are there other tarsiers around the world?
- Bornean tarsier (Tarsius bancanus) of Borneo and Sumatra,
Spectral tarsier (Tarsius spectrum),
- lesser spectral tarsier (Tarsius pumilus),
- Dian's tarsier (Tarsius dianae) of Sulawesi, Indonesia
- Philippine Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta)
What is the status of the Philippine Tarsier?
The status of the Philippine tarsier is categorized as "lower risk, conservation dependent." This simply means that it is
not yet categorized as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, but it could qualify within five years in one of
those categories if present programs to protect the species are stopped.
One main reason for the critically declining population
of the species is the destruction of their known forest habitats. Years of commercial logging, slash-and-burn agriculture
and illegal logging activities have greatly reduced the forest covers of Bohol, Mindanao, Samar, and Leyte - areas in the
country where tarsiers can be found. With the destruction of forests comes the inevitable loss of tarsier populations
How was the Philippine Tarsier discovered?
Tarsiers first became known to Western scientists through
the description given to J. Petiver by the missionary J.G. camel of an animal said to have come from the Philippines (Hill,
1955). Petivel published Camel's description in 1705 and named the animal Cercopithecus luzonis minimus which was the basis
for Linnaeus' (1758) Simia syrichta and eventually Tarsius syrichta. How old is the tarsier? Dated at around 45 million years,
or early in the Eocene period, it is one of the oldest land species in continuous existence in the Philippines.