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The worlds cutest vampire - The Spectral Tarsier #CuteoftheDay

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#CuteoftheDay - The Spectral Tarsier. What's cuter than 1 tarsier in a tree? 2 tarsiers - the worlds smallest primate.


I took this photograph at the famous tarsier tree in Tangkoko, Sulawesi. Resembling a cross between a gremlin and a tiny koala, the spectral tarsier emerges before dusk and spends the night jumping from tree to tree on the hunt for food. It has eyes larger than its brain, a head that can rotate 180 degrees, ears that can detect the twitch of an insect from as far as 10 metres away, extended 'tarsus' leg bones to enable it to pounce up to 40 times the length of its body, and vampirish teeth for stabbing and crunching invertebrate prey.


 Inside a tarsier tree. The hanging, tangled roots of the fig provide plenty of places for tarsiers to hide during the day.

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