Have you ever seen one of the world's smallest primate? If you haven't, then you are being left out. They are the tarsier, known to live in the islands of Bohol in the Visayas region of the country. Many locals though they are the smallest monkey or the smallest primate in the world. But they actually aren't. The Pygmy Lemur and Pygmy Marmoset are actually the smallest, respectively. However, we can still categorize the tarsiers as one of the worlds smallest. But tarsiers have their own name for a world record. They are the only mammal known with the biggest eyes.
Physically, we described tarsiers as small, nocturnal leaping animals with fur all over the body with enormous eyes. Many tourist found them very cute and very adorable. But kids will surely be frightened at first, I bet. When I first saw the when I visited Bohol, I was like in shock that they will jump at you when you hold crickets. Have I told you they love insects? They favorite food are crickets and other insects. But they are also known as bird catchers. Wild tarsiers have been seen to leap from every tree and catch a bird in flight.
Tarsiers are generally nocturnal though some can be seen with daytime activities. Because of the tarsier's importance in the country, it has been used countless times to represent the country. Like for example as a mascot in the recent ASEAN games held in the Philippines last 2005. Tarsiers are endangered species. Their count only reach in 5,000 or less from being very abundant before with hundreds of thousands in population.
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