Wallace's tarsier was first described as T. wallacei by Stefan Merker et al. in 2010, the type locality being about 9 km (6 mi) south of Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, near the village of Uwemanje.

The new species was named in honour of the British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace.

Although morphologically similar to other species of tarsier found on Sulawesi, it has a distinctive duetting call, and genetic analysis shows that its mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA sequences, and its microsatellite allele frequencies, are unique.

This tarsier is arboreal and is found in both primary and secondary forest and in degraded areas.

The total population is unknown but is thought to be decreasing as forest is cleared to make way for plantation crops.