Cool and weird edition
What is that???
Horsfield’s tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus), also known as the western tarsier, is the only species of tarsier in the genus Cephalopachus. It occurs on Borneo, Sumatra and nearby islands and is, like other members of the group, entirely nocturnal.
Horsfield’s tarsier is a nocturnal species. It sleeps alone during the day in a tangle of vines or creepers at a height of 3.5 to 5 meters. This species prefers to sleep, rest, or remain stationary on perches that are angled 5 degrees from the vertical tree trunks, 1 to 4 cm in diameter,and it sleeps solitarily. Before sunset, Horsfield’s tarsier will wake up and wait 10 to 20 minutes before moving around the understory and spending 1.5 to 2 hours of the night foraging for food.Horsfield’s tarsier can be found from ground level up to a height of 7m or more in the understory.
This species is carnivorous. It mainly eats insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, katydids, cockroaches, butterflies, moths, praying mantis, ants, phasmids, and cicadas, but also will eat small vertebrates such as bats (Chiroptera) including members of the genus Taphozous, the lesser short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis), and the spotted-winged fruit bat (Balionycteris maculata),and snakes, of which poisonous snakes have been found to be consumed. For example, the poisonous snake Maticora intestinalis was found to be hunted for by this species. This species was also found to consume birds, including: spiderhunters, warblers, kingfishers, and pittas. It locates prey primarily by sound and catches the prey with its hands when foraging. The prey items get killed by bites to the back of the neck and the eyes are shut when attacking. It will consume the prey starting with the head and working its way down the body. This species gets water both by drinking from a pool or stream, and by licking drops from bamboo leaves or from trunks of trees when water is running down the bark. Horsfield’s tarsier is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Moniliformis tarsii.
Horsfield’s tarsier, like all tarsiers, is a vertical clinger and leaper known for its extraordinary leaping abilities. An individual will mainly support itself with its feet and the tail exerts enough force to hold the individual in place without using the hands much because of the pads located on the feet. Except when resting, the hands are usually placed no higher than its nose.The hands are only placed higher up to maintain the position of the individual.Other modes of locomotion used by the species include climbing, quadrupedal walking, hopping and “cantilevering.”
The animal kingdom is this earth’s most precious gift. If only we were better at taking care of it.