Definition of tarsier Tarsier

tar•si•er

We found 6 definitions of tarsier from 6 different sources.

What does tarsier mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: tarsiers
tarsier - nocturnal arboreal primate of Indonesia and the Philippines having huge eyes and digits ending in pads to facilitate climbing; the only primate that spurns all plant material as food living entirely on insects and small vertebrates
		primate any placental mammal of the order Primates; has good eyesight and flexible hands and feet
		genus tarsius, tarsius type and sole genus of the family Tarsiidae
		tarsius syrichta a variety of tarsier

= synonym
= antonym
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Wiktionary

tarsier (Noun)
An insectivorous primate of the Tarsiidae family, having very large eyes and long feet, native mainly to several islands of Southeast Asia .

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

tarsier (n.)
See Tarsius.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

tarsier
tär′si-er, n. a small arboreal East Indian lemuroid, the malmag.—adj. Tar′siped, having the same tarsal structure as the foregoing. [Fr.]

Wikipedia

The tarsiers are prosimian primates. They got their name because they have very long tarsus bones in their feet.

Body shape.

Tarsiers have enormous eyes and long feet. Their feet have very long bones. Most tarsiers are nocturnal. They primarily eat insects, and catch insects by jumping at them. They are also known to eat birds and snakes. Pregnancy takes about six months. Tarsiers give birth to single offspring.

Once found in Asia, Europe and North America, tarsiers are now only found on several Southeast Asian islands including the Philippines, Sulawesi, Borneo, and Sumatra.

They also have the longest continuous fossil record of any primate. The fossil record suggests that their dental pattern and shape hasn't changed in 45 million years.

Unlike many nocturnal animals, tarsiers lack a light-reflecting area (tapetum lucidum) of the eye. They also have a fovea, atypical for nocturnal animals.

The tarsier is also known to be the inspiration for the famous movie character Yoda of Star Wars due to its small size but excellent hunting skills. Tarsiers can catch prey like birds even if they are in motion as the tarsiers jump from tree to tree to catch their prey.

Conservation status.

One tarsier species, Dian's Tarsier ("Tarsius dentatus"), is listed by on the IUCN Red List as being "lower Risk - Conservation Dependent". Two other species/sub-species, Horsfield's Tarsier ("Tarsius bancanus"), "Tarsius bancanus bancanus", are listed as "Lower Risk - Least Concern". The Spectral Tars