Marmosets and Tamarins

Tamarins are found north of the marmosets, thus north of the Amazon River, and primarily west of the Madiera River. They are a little larger than marmosets, averaging about 9 in (23 cm) with a 14 in (36 cm) tail. They exhibit a greater variety of color than the marmosets, occurring in black, brown, and red, and often with a dramatic white crest or moustache. They communicate with high-pitched sounds referred to as "trilling." Tamarins live primarily on fruit but also eat insects. They are especially fond of grasshoppers, which they obtain by hunting on the forest floor.

The face of some tamarins is naked and in others it is hairy. The facial hair is distinctive of the species. The emperor tamarin (S. imperator), for example, has a black head with flowing white moustache that apparently reminded someone of the nineteenth century Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. It lives in parts of Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil. Unlike most members of this family, the emperor tamarin will share part of its territory with a relative, the saddleback tamarin (S. fuscicollis). In their shared territory in Peru, the two species apparently gain some reciprocal benefit from their association, probably though communication about food supply. The saddleback tamarin of Colombia has a speckled back, contrasting with its reddish underparts and rump. It has white eyebrows.

The naked-faced tamarins are not truly naked-faced, except for the pied, or bare-faced tamarin (S. bicolor) of northern Brazil, which has a bare, black face that contrasts dramatically with the white upper half of its body. The lower half is rust-red. This species is endangered. Other bare-faced tamarins, such as the cottontop (S. A pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea). Photograph by Art Wolfe. The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers, Inc. Reproduced by permission. oedipus) of Colombia, have fine hair covering the face. It has a startling, long white crown on its black head and a white chest and arms. A subspecies called Geoffroy's tamarin (S. o. geoffroyi) occurs as far north as Panama. Cottontops live in smaller groups than other tamarins.