Early Sketch from Camel’s description
Tom’s Note: The people of the Indo/Malay islands already knew about the Tarsier. However, when the white men came, they made the animal known to the western world of science.
The story of the Tarsier began in 1705 when a person named J. Camel described the animal from the Philippine Islands. James Petivier dared to sketch the animal from Camel’s description. The following is the report from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society:
“Called Magu or Boot by the Indians, it is the smallest monkey from Luzon. The picture shows the size of the monkey and it appears smaller and gracile. Face like that of a lion; eyes red, big round and made for looking at night, which is closed never or only rarely: Ears skinny, hairless: mouse-like fur which is yellowish or golden: Outward appearance like that of a hare or a monkey: Tale and hind feet are of the length of the rest of the body: Rarely appears by daylight, of which one thinks it blind him. Normally proceeds in a leaping fashion, and backwards, respectively obliquely faster that forwards, It is said to live on carbon, but this wrong. Since it eats Indian figs and other fruits. Progresses with its off spring which it carries at its belly. With a string of the vine Pamago, it ties its young to itself when the offspring wants to escape.”(Which, of course, is wrong)
Carolus Linnaeus, whose Latin classification system we use today, included Camels’ animal as Saimiri syrishta in his famous work, Systema Naturae. In 1777, Johan Erxleben, from Germany, had connected the Tarsier to the lemurs. In 1780, Storr introduced the name Tarsius to non-scientific people. In 1791, Nau had given such a precise account that the genus Tarsius was firmly established.
Seven years later, a French nobleman, George_Louis Leclerc, Count of Buffon, in 1807, gave such an accurate report that very few minor details were added to the above description. In the title, he named the animal “le tarsier” which has stuck until today. He stated:
“It is remarkable for the excessive length of its hind legs . The bones of the feet, and especially those which compose the upper part of the tarsus are of an extraordinary length that it is from this distinctive character that we take his name.”
In 1838, a remarkable year for the Tarsius, Cuming wrote a scientific history of the behavioural aspects of its biology. In 1846, Burmeister wrote comprehensive anatomy of 140 pages and seven plates. Two later anatomical works by Wollard (1925) and Hill (1955) were also commended.
The reason for all the anatomical interest was the theory that man’s evolution included the Tarsier. It was thought that humankind evolved from the Tarsier. Wood-Jones, in 1929, published this theory because early embryological development published by Hubrecht In 1896 and Keibel in 1907-1908 also included studies of the brain and neurological systems. More intensive investigations were published by the Royal Zoological Society but came to a screeching halt in the 1950s when scientists decided human evolution could not have come through the Tarsier.
The report continues for another 58 pages describing in minute detail the work of Niemitz on the Tarsier of Sarawak.
From: Results of a Field Study on the Western Tarsier (Tarsius bancanus borneanus Horsefield,1821) by Carsten Niemitz in the Sarawak Museum Journal December 1979
Our book, The History of the Sarawak River Valley early days to 1840 is available as an e-book on Amazon.Com.
