Pygmy Tarsiers

Scientists thought the pygmy tarsier was extinct, since the last live sighting was over 80 years ago. Eight years ago, one was accidently trapped and killed in Indonesia. But recently, scientists have caught three live pygmy tarsiers and observed a fourth in the Lore Lindu National Park on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The pygmy tarsier, or Tarsius pumilus, weighs about 50 grams (1.7 ounces), and has dense fur, large, protruding eyes. In addition to seeming as a living, breathing version of the Furby, it also appears as though it ought to have had appeared in the 1984 movie “Gremlins.”

Unlike other primates, the pygmy tarsier — endemic to a specific area of Indonesia — has claws instead of nails on its fingers. It is half as big as the Philippines tarsier, which has similar features.

The trapped animals were fitted with radio tracking collars and released. Link -Thanks, Thembi!

(image credit: Texas A&M University)

See a larger species of tarsier up close here.