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Tarsiers : past, present, and future

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TLDR
This new volume presents alternative and contrasting perspectives on the most debated questions that have arisen in tarsier studies and brings together perspectives from anatomical, behavioral, genetic, and conservation studies in this new and exciting addition to the understanding of primate evolution.
Abstract
Tarsiiformes, or tarsiers for short, are a group of living species of special interest to primatologists because their combination of derived and ancient characteristics make them pivotal to understanding the roots of primate evolution. These small-bodied, nocturnal, solitary creatures resemble lower primates in their behavior but genetically, DNA evidence aligns them more closely with higher primates, such as monkeys, apes, and humans. These astounding creatures exhibit an ability found in no other living mammal - they can turn their heads 180 degrees in either direction to see both prey and predators. The world's only exclusively carnivorous primate, they eat live food (primarily insects, but the occasional vertebrate, such as lizards, snakes, or frogs will also do). This unique combination of behavior and anatomy makes the tarsier an especially interesting and controversial animal for study among primate behaviorists, evolutionists, and taxonomists, who view the tarsiers as ""living fossils"" that link past and present, lower and higher primates in the long chain of evolutionary history. This new volume presents alternative and contrasting perspectives on the most debated questions that have arisen in tarsier studies. Top researchers bring together perspectives from anatomical, behavioral, genetic, and conservation studies in this new and exciting addition to the understanding of primate evolution. A volume in the Rutgers Series on Human Evolution, edited by Robert Trivers, Lee Cronk, Helen Fisher, and Lionel Tiger.

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Journal ArticleDOI

A mitogenomic phylogeny of living primates.

TL;DR: One major result is a relatively young date for the most recent common ancestor of all living primates which was estimated to 66-69 million years ago, suggesting that the divergence of extant primates started close to the K/T-boundary.
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The Genera and Species of Tarsiidae

TL;DR: The taxonomy of the primate family Tarsiidae is revised, and neither Cephalopachus nor Carlito has been the subject of anywhere near as much field research as has Tarsius; thus it is questioned if the currently accepted α taxonomy for these genera is based on knowledge or ignorance.
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The development of small primate models for aging research.

TL;DR: This work assesses small, relatively short-lived species among the prosimians and callitrichids for suitability as models for human aging research and suggests three species that deserve scrutiny for development as major NHP models for aging studies.
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Molecular Phylogenetics and Chronometrics of Tarsiidae Based on 12S mtDNA Haplotypes: Evidence for Miocene Origins of Crown Tarsiers and Numerous Species within the Sulawesian Clade

TL;DR: This work reports new mitochondrial DNA sequence data from tarsiers sampled from several populations, including the extreme northeast and southwest of the range of the Tarsius tarsier species complex, the most extensive sampling ever reported for this taxon, and produces the first ever molecular chronometric analysis of Tarsiidae.
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Rapid electrostatic evolution at the binding site for cytochrome c on cytochrome c oxidase in anthropoid primates

TL;DR: It is suggested that reducing the electrostatic interaction between COX and CYC was part of the adaptive evolution underlying the emergence of anthropoid primates.
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Trending Questions (1)
Do tarsiers see in the infrared or long wavelength light?

The text does not provide information about whether tarsiers see in the infrared or long wavelength light.