Pygmy Species Discovered Alive - Formerly Presumed Extinct

How cool is this?! This is a primate species and nocturnal creature called a pygmy tarsier. It is only about the size of a mouse.

Pygmy tarsiers are among the rarest of the many tarsier species in Asia and the Pacific. Some primatologists believed they were extinct. However, Texas A&M anthropologist Sharon Gursky-Doyen led an expedition this summer where three pygmy tarsiers were carefully and strategically trapped and tracked on Mount Rorekatimbo (above 6,000 feet in elevation) in Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi, a province in Indonesia. This is the first time the pygmy tarsier has been found alive in more than 70 years!

Before this year, only three specimens had ever been collected, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Two were found in 1916 and 1930. The third was a dead pygmy tarsier that Indonesian scientists found in a rat trap on Mount Rorekatimbo in 2000 which motivated primatologists to search intensively for a live specimen. Gursky-Doyen said she hoped the latest find would put added pressure on government officials to protect habitat within the national park.

There are 60 villages of people already living within the national park. As the population grows, the settlements will close in on the mountain. This will inevitably disrupt the habitat of the reclusive tarsiers and other, yet-to-be-discovered species.

There is still hope for wonderful, beautiful, priceless species around the world that are facing extinction due to overpopulation, global warming, excessive development and loss of habitat. I found this news very inspiring. There is still hope that humans will do the right thing and protect the environment and all beautiful creatures that live on this planet (not just humans).

It is fun to note that the pygmy tarsier looks just like the popular Furby electronic toy by Hasbro and many of the gremlin-like toys from the past decade. They have the distinctive, big-eyed look like the Furbys. Unlike the toy however, pygmy tarsiers are not vocal. Scientists still have many questions about the unique evolution of the pygmy tarsiers so let us hope they will be protected. They certainly are adorable, fascinating creatures!