Tarsius tarsier (Erxleben 1777)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Primates, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 111-184 : 128

Tarsius tarsier (Erxleben 1777)

[Lemur] tarsier Erxleben 1777 , Systema Regni Animalis, I. Mammalia: 71.

Type Locality: Unknown. Based on the "Tarsier or Woolly Jerboa" of Buffon, 1749, Histoire Naturelle, 13, N°MCCXXXV. Shekelle and Groves (in prep.) restricted the type locality to Makassar (Sulawesi, Indonesia), following Hill’s (1953) previous restriction of the type locality of spectrum to that region .

Vernacular Names: Spectral Tarsier.

Synonyms: Tarsius buffonii (Link 1795) ; Tarsius daubentonii Fischer 1804 ; Tarsius fischerii Desmarest 1804 ; Tarsius fuscomanus Fischer 1804 ; Tarsius fuscus Fischer 1804 ; Tarsius macrotarsos Schreber 1778 ; Tarsius pallassii É. Geoffroy 1796 ; Tarsius podje ( Kerr 1792) ; Tarsius spectrum (Pallas 1778) .

Distribution: Sulawesi lowlands and Selayar Isl ( Indonesia).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Lower Risk (nt) as T. spectrum .

Discussion: The description and plate of Buffon’s (1849) "Tarsier or Woolly Jerboa" clearly indicates a Sulawesi tarsier; the name therefore takes precedence over spectrum Pallas ; it is not a nomen oblitum because it was used by Chasen (1940). Niemitz et al. (1991) implied that this species, which they called T. spectrum , may be restricted to N Sulawesi; but the N Sulawesi tarsier may not be conspecific with that from Makassar. There are probably a number of undescribed species, sharply distinguished by their vocalizations ( Shekelle et al., 1998) and by morphological features (Groves, in prep.), in different regions of Sulawesi, and the Selayar tarsier is also distinct.