Page 63 - Atlas Of The World's Strangest Animals

TARSIER 63

Comparisons

Senegal bush babies (Galago senegalensis) share many physical
characteristics with Asian tarsiers. Like many night-time specialists, they
have large eyes and, being an arboreal species, they have gripping hands
and a long tail for balance. Bush babies are, however, the more social of
the two.While some tarsier species prefer simply to pair up, bush baby
females live in close knit groups with their young.

Tarsier Senegal bush baby

forest. Indeed, the name tarsier refers to their enlarged Amongst mammals, they have the largest eyes, in
tarsus (ankle) bone. proportion to body size. In volume, the capacity of the
tarsiers’ eye sockets is larger than that of their brain case or
Wide-eyed and wonderful their stomach.
No discussion about these wonderful creatures would be Big eyes are important for nocturnal animals, as they
complete without reference to their most obvious and help to collect as much light from the surrounding area as
dramatic feature – their eyes.Tarsiers have huge eyes, each possible. However, tarsiers’ eyes are not merely massive;
of which measures about 1.6cm (0.6in) in diameter. they are also, structurally, quite strange. Many night-time
specialists, especially hunters, have a region in the eye
called the tapetum lucidum.This lies behind or sometimes
Tarsier habitats within the retina and its job is to reflect visible light back
through the retina.This helps to improve vision in low-
light conditions. It’s the tapetum lucidum that makes cats’
eyes appear to glow in the dark.Tarsiers don’t have a
tapetum lucidum, but they do have a fovea – a very
unusual feature for nocturnal animals.The fovea helps to
sharpen images. In humans, it’s the part of the eye which
allows us to focus on the words on this page. So it’s likely
that these cute primates have extremely sharp, clear vision.
There’s one further, odd thing about the tarsiers’ odd eyes.
They face forwards and can’t move in the socket. Ordinarily,
this would make it difficult for the tarsier to look out for
prey or predators. Fortunately, over many millennia, these
amazing animals have developed another unique ability to
compensate.They have can rotate their head through almost
o
180 in both directions, a little like an owl.

(c) 2011 Marshall Cavendish. All Rights Reserved.