The tarsier’s brown and white camouflage fur, long extremities (fingers, toes, arms, legs, tail), and large eyes are all parts of their anatomy that work to make them perfectly adapted to their nocturnal, predatory, and tree-dwelling (arboreal) lifestyle.

The Sangihe tarsiers have a larger body and skull than other Sulawesi tarsiers. They have tightly packed, short gold fur on their back and white fur on their bellies. Gray fur covers their face, which houses large round eyes with dark pupils surrounded by vibrant orange-brown rings. They have white spots below their ears and black markings outside their nostrils that continue upward to form a point above the nose. All these features give the Sangihe tarsier a cute and almost cuddly appearance but make no mistake, these wild animals are voracious predators with relatively large canines and incisors, perfect for hunting lizards and hard-shelled insects.

Their scaly tails are longer than their body and covered in fine hair. They use their tails to maintain balance during their jumps. Their legs are muscular and make up a large part of their body. Their shin bones (or tibia) are fused and strong. This allows for more muscle attachment in the legs giving them the power to make long-distance jumps. They also have long tarsus (or ankle) bones that inspired the name “tarsiers”, and this feature allows them to extend the reach of their legs as they leap onto a tree. Their hands and feet have long digits and are almost hairless, which helps their grip. Tarsiers have grooming claws (modified nails that curve upward) on their second and third fingers and, in Sangihe tarsiers, these claws are smaller than other species.

Males can be larger and, most times, that is the only visual difference between the sexes.