The Tarsier

Mammal Monday, Tarsier. Tarsiers are small animals with enormous eyes; each eyeball is approximately 16 mm. © The Field Museum, Z84060, Photographer Catherine Hoogstraal Walker.

One of the tarsiers that lived at the Brookfield Zoo.

3x4 negative

Another animal drinking coffee!!!  I was going for a tarsier, not sure I quite got the likeness, but I still love what I ended up with. :D

Left: Philippine tarsier - Tarsius philippensis [now Carlito syrichta] Right: Tarsius fuscus and the Sangihe tarsier (Tarsius sangirensis)

Tarsiers are nocturnal prosimian (“before simians”) primates, and are the only completely carnivorous primate extant. They eat exclusively insects, small reptiles, and small birds, and unlike other primates, don’t eat any fruits or leaves.

Their eyes are as large as their brains, and unlike other prosimians, they do not have a tapetum lucidum (the light-reflecting membrane found in many nocturnal mammals, such as cats). The huge size of the eyeballs and the large section of the brain devoted to eyesight makes up for the lack of tapetum. They also have extraordinary hearing, and combine the two senses to great advantage against insects and animals trying to hide. in the dense rainforests of southeast Asia.

Learn More True Facts about the Tarsier.

The nocturnal Tarsier from 24 Hours On Earth, narrated by Matthew MacFadyen (Ripper Street).