By definition, T. tarsier is the rump taxon of tarsiers that remain in the Sulawesi biogeographic region, after excluding T. sangirensis, T. pumilus, T. dentatus, T. pelengensis, and T. lariang. This leaves T. tarsier, sensu lato, with an unlikely distribution that includes Sulawesi, Buton, Muna, Kabaena, Selayar, and the Togian Islands, below 1,800 m (with an actual vertical distribution that likely stops somewhere between 1,100-1,500 m), except those portions of Sulawesi that lie within the ranges of T. dentatus and T. lariang. As discussed by Brandon-Jones et al. (2004), this is distribution is improbably disjunct. It is more likely that this population is subdivided into numerous insular and parapatric species, as hypothesized by Shekelle and Leksono (2004) and Brandon-Jones et al. (2004).