Acoustic Repertoire of the Philippine Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta fraterculus) and Individual Variation of Long-Distance Calls

Abstract

We present the spectrographic description of the vocal repertoire of the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta fraterculus), a solitary living nocturnal primate for which a very limited information about acoustic communication exists to date. The majority of vocalizations were performed around sunset and, less frequently, at sunrise. We identified eight call types. Five calls recorded during communication between adults included three long-distance calls-loud call, smack-whistle, and whistle-then a soft locust-like chirp and a bird-like trill. Two other calls-cheep and twitter-were recorded during mother-infant communication. One distress call was emitted by adults during handling. All calls were performed in the 9752 Hz to more than 22 kHz frequency range. This study provides the first evidence of individual variation in the long-distance calls performed by tarsiers. Moreover, our study provides a basis for future comparison within as well as between tarsier species taxonomy. Bioacoustic methods can be used in monitoring of these cryptic species and determining their distribution range. Thus, bioacoustic studies can help to improve conservation strategies of different population/species. Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Successful breeding attempt of a pair of Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) in a conservation center in Bilar, Bohol, Philippines and recommendations for tarsier husbandry

“…Loud call, chirp, cheep (Řeháková-Petrů, Policht, et al, 2012) were recorded between 6 and 9 p.m. The next morning female was found high on a sleeping tree, the infant was not visible on the mother's body, in the afternoon it was found dead on the floor.…”

“…However, most of them focus on tarsier species living on Sulawesi. To date only a few studies have investigated the biology, ecology, and behavior of the Philippine tarsier (Dagosto & Gebo, ; Dagosto, Gebo, & Dolino, ; Jachowski & Pizzaras, ; Lovegrove et al, ; Neri‐Arboleda, Stott, & Arboleda, ; Řeháková, ; Řeháková‐Petrů, Peške, & Daněk, ; Řeháková‐Petrů, Policht, & Peške, ) and the Philippine tarsier remains one of the least known primates. Tarsiers are nocturnal primates, active from dusk to dawn.…”

“…Because of the nocturnal lifestyle olfactory and acoustic communication are the most important. Tarsiers scent marks their home‐ranges regularly and regularly vocalize at dusk and dawn (MacKinnon & MacKinnon, ; Neri‐Arboleda et al, ; Řeháková‐Petrů, Policht, et al, ). They live in various habitat types—primary and secondary tropical rainforest with dense vegetation, mangroves, and trees that offer protection like tall grasses, bushes, and bamboo shoots.…”

“…Their vocalization was only recorded outside the enclosure using Olympus LS‐11 (so it was not possible to distinguish if it is the mother or the baby calling). Loud call, chirp, cheep (Řeháková‐Petrů, Policht, et al, ) were recorded between 6 and 9 p.m. The next morning female was found high on a sleeping tree, the infant was not visible on the mother's body, in the afternoon it was found dead on the floor.…”

Song structure and sex-specific features in the indris

“…Robinson (1979) found that in Callicebus cupreus duets are achieved by females and males alternating the different parts (Robinson 1979), but also that females exhibit lower-pitched bellows than males. Tarsiers also show sexually dimorphic calls, further characterized by individual variation (Řeháková-Petrů et al 2012).…”