Tarsius fuscus, s. fuscomanus, Fischer, Anat. der Maki, pp. 3, 7 (1784).
Tarsius fuscomanus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 168 (1812); Max Weber, Zool. Ergebn. Reis. Nederl. Ost-Indien, iii., p. 264 (1893).
Tarsius fischeri, Burm. Tarsius, pp. 29, 129 (1846).
Characters.—Closely related to the preceding species in size and other characters, but distinguished by the colour of the hands, which are dark brown.
Distribution.—Inhabits the islands of the Indian Archipelago, farther to the eastward than those in which Tarsius Tarsius is found. It has been recorded from Celebes, and the neighbouring groups of Salayer and Sanghir, and from some of the Philippine Islands, such as Bohol and Mindanao.
Habits.—The habits of both species of Tarsier are identical, and may be described together. They are almost entirely nocturnal and arboreal animals, rarely, of their own accord, coming to the ground. They move from place to place by leaping along the larger branches, or from tree to tree, even when these stand several feet distant. When they do descend, however, they advance on the ground by the same curious Frog-like leaps, without bringing their fore-limbs down to the ground. The Tarsier is said to climb easily, even without grasping, by means of the round discs on its slender finger-tips, which, like suckers, enable it to hold on by the side pressure of its limbs to any smooth surface, such as the stems of the bamboo-brakes which it frequents. Mr. Charles Hose, in his "Mammals of Borneo," states that, in that island, the Tarsier is found in the jungles of the low country, skipping about from branch to branch. According to the notes of this excellent field-naturalist, it has a habit of turning its head almost completely round without moving the rest of its body. This very remarkable creature lives in pairs in the tropical forests, in holes in the tree stems, or under their roots, feeding chiefly on insects and small lizards, which, as Mr. Cuming has recorded, it holds by its fore-paws while devouring, sitting up the while on its posterior. In drinking it is also said to lap water like a Cat. The Tarsier seldom makes any kind of noise, but when it does emit a sound, it is a sharp, shrill call. The female produces one, rarely two, young at a birth; these are similar to the parents. They are covered with hair, and have the eyes open. Mr. Hose further states that the mother often carries her young one about in her mouth, after the manner of a Cat. On the second day after its birth, the infant Tarsier can move about by itself. By the natives of Sumatra, and, indeed, of most of the islands inhabited by these animals, the Tarsiers are held in superstitious dread, their presence in the neighbourhood of the rice-fields being supposed to portend misfortune to the owner or to some member of his family.
Their elongated ankle-bones, and their leaping habits, seem to indicate that the Galagos and the Chirogales, or Mouse-Lemurs, are the nearest relatives of the Tarsiers.
THE TYPICAL LEMURS. FAMILY LEMURIDÆ.
Under this family heading are included the whole of the remaining members of the Sub-order. They all possess certain main characters in common; but on account of the presence or absence of certain subordinate features in some of the groups, the family has been further subdivided into four sub-families. The more important characters which they have in common are the thick woolly fur, the Dog- or Fox-like snout and nostrils—a character obviously distinguishing them from the bulk of the Monkeys, in which the nose forms a subsidiary feature, and is not the main part of the face,—and especially the number and form of their teeth. In the centre of the upper jaw there is always a toothless gap, or diastema, on each side of which the teeth are arranged according to the following formula: I22, C11, P33, M33 = 36. Among the Endrinas, however, the formula is I22, C1(1 or 0), P22, M33 = 32 or 30 in number. In the upper jaw the incisors are small and perpendicular; but in the lower, where they are long and narrow, they protrude horizontally in front, and then follow, parallel and close to them, the somewhat thicker canines, the six teeth together forming a comb-like series. The anterior pre-molar is always vertically longer than the others, and assumes the form and function of the canines in other animals.
In some genera (e.g., Propithecus), Milne-Edwards has observed that in the young animal the cerebellum is more overlapped by the cerebrum (or main brain) than it is later in life; and Dr. Major believes that the Lemuridæ are highly specialised members of the Sub-order, developed from ancient types which were not unlike the American Monkeys of the family Cebidæ.