Cotton-top tamarin, Cotton-headed tamarin, Crested tamarin, Cotton-top tamarin
The cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus ) is a small New World monkey weighing less than 0.5 kg (1.1 lb). This New World monkey can live up to 24 years, but most of them die by 13 years. One of the smallest primates, the cotton-top tamarin is easily recognized by the long, white sagittal crest extending from its forehead to its shoulders. The species is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests in northwestern Colombia, where it is arboreal and diurnal. Its diet includes insects and plant exudates, and it is an important seed disperser in the tropical ecosystem.
The cotton-top tamarin displays a wide variety of social behaviors. In particular, groups form a clear dominance hierarchy where only dominant pairs breed. The female normally gives birth to twins and uses pheromones to prevent other females in the group from breeding. These tamarins have been extensively studied for their high level of cooperative care, as well as altruistic and spiteful behaviors. Communication between cotton-top tamarins is sophisticated and shows evidence of grammatical structure, a language feature that must be acquired.
Up to 40,000 cotton-top tamarins are thought to have been caught and exported for use in biomedical research before 1976, when CITES gave them the highest level of protection and all international commercial trade was prohibited. Now, the species is at risk due to large-scale habitat destruction, as the lowland forest in northwestern Colombia where the cotton-top tamarin is found has been reduced to 5% of its previous area. It is currently classified as critically endangered and is one of the rarest primates in the world, with only 6,000 individuals left in the wild.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
Highly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Cotton-top tamarins are impressive primates with a characteristic white crest that is composed of long hairs, surrounding their neck. This unique animal exhibits a rather small body and a thick coat, which is brown on the back and shoulders. The head crest and legs vary in color from white to yellow. When moving through their forest range, these animals run along and jump between tree branches, using all of their four legs, which are almost the same size. All of their toes and fingers (except for halluces) are equipped with claws instead to nails, making these tamarins excellent climbers, moving with a squirrel-like manner. Currently, this species is among the most endangered primates, found in South America.
Endemic to northwestern Colombia, these primates typically live in secondary forests as well as edges of tropical rainforests of the region. However, the Cotton-top tamarins may occur in a wide range of habitats, including wetland tropical forests, moist woodland forests and dry thorn forest savannahs.
Cotton-top tamarins are very social primates, forming troops of up to 19 individuals with 3 - 9 on average. Each of these groups is composed of dominant male and female with their offspring of the year as well as a few sub-ordinate or young individuals of both genders, which serve as 'helpers'. The latter occasionally unite in smaller groups, leaving and returning to the territory of the main group. These animals display a highly territorial behavior, using scent marking technique to establish boundaries of their home ranges. A single group may occupy a territory of 7 - 10 hectares. During conflicts with other groups of conspecifics, these animals avoid physical behavior, instead demonstrating their rear and genital area. This behavior acts as a threat display, through which they defend their territory against outsiders.
As omnivorous creatures, the Cotton-top tamarins will consume a wide variety of food from fruits, sap, blossoms, leaves and nectar to insects, spiders, lizards, small tree frogs and eggs of birds.
The Cotton-top tamarin has a monogamous breeding system, which means that one male mates with one female exclusively. Breeding typically occurs between April and May. Gestation period lasts for 4 - 5 months, yielding 1 - 2 babies. Both parents display parental care, usually sharing responsibilities: while the mother cleans the infants, the father has to carry and groom them. Additionally, older siblings help parents rear new generation. However, infants prefer being carried by their parents. At 2 - 5 weeks old, the babies begin moving on their own. At 4 - 7 weeks old, they start taking solid food. Independence is reached within 15 - 25 weeks, while the age of reproductive maturity is typically 2 years old.
Currently, the biggest threat to the overall population of Cotton-top tamarins is continuous forest clearing for timber, charcoal, human settlements, agricultural lands and industry, leading to deforestation, due to which these animals have lost most of their original range. As a result, these primates are today found in isolated populations, inhabiting fragmented remains of their former habitat. Hence, these small populations are unable to successfully breed and sustain themselves. Population in northern Colombia suffers even more due to rapid development of human settlements in the area. On the other hand, deforestation opens way to once inaccessible range of Cotton-top tamarins, and these primates are often trapped by animal collectors and sold in port cities or exported.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population of Cotton-top tamarins is 6,000 individuals, including approximately 2,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) and its numbers continue to decrease.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...