CreatureData

Pygmy tarsier

Tarsius pumilus Miller & Hollister, 1921

ENEndangeredprimates

The pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus) is a species in the family Tarsiidae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh about 27.5 g and live up to 12 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

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Quick facts about the pygmy tarsier

Weight
27.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
12 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
171 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
13.4 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2.38src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the pygmy tarsier live?

Not recorded

What is the pygmy tarsier?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus), also known as the mountain tarsier or the lesser spectral tarsier, is a nocturnal primate found in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The pygmy tarsier is elusive, only inhabiting highland habitats such as moss forests and being difficult to locate even by experienced tarsier biologists.

For decades it was only known from two specimens; it was believed they were either an aberrant montane form of the Tarsius tarsier complex or a species that had gone extinct in the early 20th century. In 2000, a third specimen was recovered, accidentally killed in a snap-trap. The first pygmy tarsiers seen alive since the 1920s were found by a research team led by Dr. Sharon Gursky and PhD student Nanda Grow from Texas A&M University on Mount Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in August 2008. The two males and single female (a fourth escaped) were captured using nets, and were radio collared to track their movements. As the first live pygmy tarsiers seen in 80-plus years, these captures dispelled the belief among some primatologists that the species was extinct.

From the Wikipedia article “Pygmy tarsier” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pygmy_tarsier&oldid=1383991595), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the pygmy tarsier endangered?

The pygmy tarsier is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the pygmy tarsier classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyTarsiidae
  6. genusTarsius
  7. SpeciesTarsius pumilus Miller & Hollister, 1921
Other names and names in other languages (19)
  • Lesser spectral tarsierEnglish
  • Lesser spectral tarsierEnglish
  • Mountain tarsierEnglish
  • Mountain tarsierEnglish
  • Sulawesi mountain tarsierEnglish
  • Sulawesi mountain tarsierEnglish
  • أبخص قزمArabic
  • ترسير قزمArabic
  • nártoun drobnýCzech
  • ZwergkoboldmakiGerman
  • Zwerg-KoboldmakiGerman
  • Tarsero PiemenoSpanish
  • Tarsero Pigmeo de SulawesiSpanish
  • pikkukummittelijaFinnish
  • Tarsier pygméFrench
  • ピグミーメガネザルJapanese
  • DwergspookdierDutch
  • wyrak karłowatyPolish
  • Карликовый долгопятRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the pygmy tarsier

Other species in the same genus Tarsius.

ComparePygmy tarsier vs Spectral tarsierPygmy tarsier vs Peleng tarsierPygmy tarsier vs Dian's tarsierPygmy tarsier vs Sangihe tarsier

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the pygmy tarsier?

An adult pygmy tarsier weighs 27.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the pygmy tarsier endangered?

The pygmy tarsier is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the pygmy tarsier live?

The pygmy tarsier has a recorded lifespan of 12 years.

How long is the pygmy tarsier pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 171 days.

What kind of animal is the pygmy tarsier?

The pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus) belongs to the family Tarsiidae in the order Primates.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-tarsier

MLA

“Pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-tarsier.

BibTeX
@misc{pygmy_tarsier_2026,
  title = {Pygmy tarsier (Tarsius pumilus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-tarsier},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}