Tarsius tarsier (Erxleben 1777) [Lemur] tarsier Erxleben 1777, Systema Regni Animalis, I. Mammalia: 71. Type Locality: Unknown. Based on the "Tarsier or Woolly Jerboa" of Buffon, 1749, Histoire Naturelle, 13, N°MCCXXXV. Shekelle and Groves (in prep.) restricted the type locality to Makassar (Sulawesi, Indonesia), following Hill’s (1953) previous restriction of the type locality of spectrum to that region. Vernacular Names: Spectral Tarsier. Synonyms: Tarsius buffonii (Link 1795); Tarsius daubentonii Fischer 1804; Tarsius fischerii Desmarest 1804; Tarsius fuscomanus Fischer 1804; Tarsius fuscus Fischer 1804; Tarsius macrotarsos Schreber 1778; Tarsius pallassii É. Geoffroy 1796; Tarsius podje (Kerr 1792); Tarsius spectrum (Pallas 1778). Distribution: Sulawesi lowlands and Selayar Isl (Indonesia). Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Lower Risk (nt) as T. spectrum. Discussion: The description and plate of Buffon’s (1849) "Tarsier or Woolly Jerboa" clearly indicates a Sulawesi tarsier; the name therefore takes precedence over spectrum Pallas; it is not a nomen oblitum because it was used by Chasen (1940). Niemitz et al. (1991) implied that this species, which they called T. spectrum, may be restricted to N Sulawesi; but the N Sulawesi tarsier may not be conspecific with that from Makassar. There are probably a number of undescribed species, sharply distinguished by their vocalizations (Shekelle et al., 1998) and by morphological features (Groves, in prep.), in different regions of Sulawesi, and the Selayar tarsier is also distinct.

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Primates, pp. 111-184 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 128, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519