The identity of Tarsius pumilus, a pygmy species endemic to the montane mossy forests of central Sulawesi. American Museum novitates ; no. 2867
Supplemental Materials
Date
1987
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Publisher
New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History
DOI
DOI
Abstract
"In 1917, Henry C. Raven obtained a small-bodied tarsier from upper montane rain forest in the mountains of Central Sulawesi. Miller and Hollister (1921b) designated the specimen as holotype of Tarsius pumilus, included two others collected from lowland evergreen rain forest, and pointed to small body size as one of the diagnostic specific characters. Subsequent faunal checklists and taxonomic revisions treated pumilus as a subspecies of the widespread Sulawesian Tarsius spectrum until 1985 when Niemitz advocated recognition of specific status for pumilus based upon the original series and recorded vocalizations. But only one of the three specimens discussed by Miller and Hollister is an example of T. pumilus, and the calls said to be those of this species were probably made by T. spectrum. Tarsius pumilus is distinctive, but it is known by only the holotype and a second example from montane forest in Central Sulawesi. The morphological and biogeographical limits of the species based upon these two specimens are documented here. The definition of T. pumilus is set within a context of morphological and geographical comparisons among T. bancanus (Sunda Shelf), T. syrichta (southern Philippine islands), and T. spectrum (Sulawesi and nearby islands); and subsequent comparisons between these three and T. pumilus. Information is provided on habitat and faunal associations of T. pumilus. The species is also contrasted in greater detail with morphology, habitats, and regional as well as altitudinal distributions of T. spectrum. A hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among the four species of tarsiers is briefly discussed"--P. [1].
Description
53 p. : ill., 2 maps ; 26 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-53).
Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-53).
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