Siau tarsier
| Siau tarsier | ||||||||||||
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Siau tarsier ( Tarsius tumpara ) |
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| Tarsius tumpara | ||||||||||||
| Shekelle et al., 2008 |
The siau tarsier ( Tarsius tumpara ) is a primate species from the group of tarsier . It was described in 2008 .
features
Siau Koboldmakis are similar to the closely related Sangihe Koboldmakis , with which they were formerly combined into one species. Like all Koboldmakis, they are very small primates. Their fur is gray-brown on the back, their belly is gray. The tail is longer than the body, the tuft of hair at the end is only weakly pronounced. The gray-colored head is characterized by the large eyes, as is the case with all tarsier, the skull is generally larger than that of the Sangihe tarsier. The ears are also large and posable. The limbs show the typical adaptations of tarsier to jumping locomotion: the hind legs and the tarsus are greatly elongated.
Distribution and way of life
These primates are endemic to Siau Island , which is part of the Indonesian Sangihe Islands and is roughly halfway between Sulawesi and Mindanao . The habitat of these animals are forests.
Little is known about their way of life. Like all Koboldmakis they are nocturnal tree-dwellers who move vertically climbing and jumping through the branches. They live in small family groups, in contrast to the closely related tarsier on Sulawesi, the groups split up to sleep and also sleep high up in the trees. The evening duets of the adult animals are only brief and the traces of urine marking the area quickly fade. According to the initial description, this could be an adaptation to the hunting pressure by humans, since no other tarsier species is hunted so heavily.
Danger
Siau Koboldmakis are extremely endangered. Your home island measures only 125 km² and is also very heavily populated (311 inhabitants / km²). Their habitat is being restricted more and more, there are no protected areas on the island. They are also hunted very heavily for their meat. Another potential danger is the island's strong volcanism; a major eruption could wipe out the remaining population.
The IUCN lists the Siau tarsier - even before the scientific description - as " critically endangered ".
literature
- Myron Shekelle, Colin Groves , Stefan Merker, Jatna Supriatna: Tarsius tumpara: A New Tarsier Species from Siau Island, North Sulawesi. In: Primate Conservation. 23, 2008, ISSN 0898-6207 , pp. 55-64, online edition (PDF; 1.6 MB).
