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Tuesday, 8th November 2005: Dept of Biological Sciences Special Seminar on Evolution and Biodiversity

Category : dbs

Evolutionary Biology of Tarsiers

by Dr. Myron Shekelle
Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Studies
University of Indonesia,
Jakarta

Tuesday, 8th November 2005: 11.00am
Seminar Room 4
Blk S2, Level 2, Department of Biological Sciences
The National University of Singapore
Science Drive 4

Visitors may park at Carpark 10

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About the Talk
Tarsiers are small-bodied nocturnal primates of the genus, Tarsius, which are classified in their own superfamily, Tarsioidea. The phylogenetic relationship of tarsiers with other primates is unresolved and remains a major debate within primate systematics. Taxonomists alternately classify tarsiers with strepsirhine primates (lorises, bushbabies, and Malagasy primates) in the suborder Prosimii, with Anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) in the infraorder Haplorhini, or in their own suborder, Tarsiiformes. A molecular clock divergence estimate, based upon globin genes, indicates a span of 58 million years since tarsiers last shared a common ancestor with other primates, and Òlong branch attractionÓ likely confounds accurate reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships among the three major primate clades.

Extant tarsiers are limited in their distribution to islands of Southeast Asia, but fossil tarsiers and tarsiiform primates are known from mainland Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Hill (1955) classified tarsiers into three species, each from a distinct biogeographic region: Tarsius bancanus from island areas of Sundaland, T. syrichta from islands of the southern Philippines, and T. tarsier (=spectrum) from Sulawesi and nearby islands.

The alpha-level taxonomy and biogeography of the T. tarsier-complex have been the subjects of several recent studies. Field surveys of these tarsiersÕ vocalizations lead to the recognition of several distinct acoustic forms and provide a hypothesis of at least 17 distinct taxa, 16 known acoustic forms within the population that Niemitz (1984) classified as T. spectrum spectrum, plus the enigmatic T. pumilus. The distribution of these acoustic forms points toward a biogeographic hypothesis that offers a compelling synthesis between two seemingly incompatible biogeographic hypotheses for Sulawesi based on geological and biological data, respectively. On the other hand, genetic and morphologic data are broadly compatible with the hypothesis that T. tarsier-complex acoustic forms are discrete taxa. The process of revising tarsier taxonomy and naming so many new primate taxa will take years, and is confounded by a lack of holotypes for key taxa, as well as a lack of reference material for several of the putative new taxa.

One implication for conservation is that biodiversity in Sulawesi may be underestimated by as much as an order of magnitude. While rigorous testing of the hypothesis of so many new taxa will require a large investment of resources and time, regrettably, current rates of deforestation indicate that time may be of short supply. Nevertheless, provided proper conservation, it is clear that tarsiers are, and will remain, a fruitful taxon for further evolutionary research. Indeed, tarsiers may provide the best flagship species to promote conservation in the region.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

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