Cotton Topped Tamarin
There are variety of primates that is breed and kept in Wildlife Fauna Janda Baik. Here is only some of them.
Cotton Topped Tamarin
Saguinus Oedipus
ORDER: Primates
FAMILY: Callitrichidae
GENUS: Saguinous
SPECIES: Oedipus
Features:
The cotton topped tamarin is strikingly marked with the long back fur dark
brown, the fur on the underside pure white and the face black with a collar
of rufous fur. "Cotton-topped" refers to the prominent crest of white hair
that extends back over the head and from ear to ear. They are considered one
of the bare-faced tamarins because of the lack of facial hair. Their lower
canine teeth are longer than their incisors, so it seems as if they have
small tusks. These monkeys are about the size of a squirrel and weigh 10-18
ounces. The males are only slightly larger than females. A medium cotton-top
tamarin weighs 432 gms. Tamarins are among the smallest of the primates.
Head body length of this species is 17 cm and tail length is 25 cm.
Forelimbs are shorter than the hind limbs. The thumb is not opposable and
the tail is not prehensile. All the finger and toe nails are like claws
except for the big toe which has a flat nail.
Location:
The cotton-topped tamarin ranging from southeastern Costa Rica in Central
America to northwestern Colombia, South America in the They prefer dense
vegetation with lots of vines where insects are numerous. Biomes: tropical
forests, open woodlands, dry tropical, dry thorn forest savanna, scrub and
edge forests.
Food:
Tamarins main diet consists of insects, ripe fruit, seeds, nectar, and gum
from trees that has oozed out. Other foods include some tender vegetation,
spiders, small vertebrates, and birds' eggs. Mice, frogs, birds and lizards
are skillfully killed by a quick head bite, a learned behavior.
Social:
Research also shows cottontops to be cooperative and pacifist to a
surprising degree. Cotton-topped tamarins are found in groups of two to
thirteen and they accept newcomers into their fold readily. All group
members, even newcomers, take some part in carrying the young and giving
them food morsels, particularly insects, and to the breeding female and
infant carriers. The adult "helpers" gain experience in parenting by sharing
in these tasks.
The female usually gives birth to twins. The father assists at birth
receiving and washing the young. The newborn have a coat of short hair and
are helpless. Newborns are able to cling tightly to the body of the mother
or father by using their hands and feet. The father carries the young, but
transfers them to the mother at feeding time. At about 21 days of age, the
young start exploring nearby surroundings, but they continue to ride on the
backs of the parents until they are about six to seven weeks old. At four
weeks, they begin to accept soft food in addition to their mother's milk.
Movement:
They move from tree to tree by running or walking quadrupedally along
horizontal branches and leaping as much as three meters to a branch in an
adjacent tree. They move with quick, jerky movements. They are very alert
and active. Claw-like nails help them grip branches better, since their
small size and non-opposable fingers make encircling difficult. Long limbs
and the extremely long tail make them excellent jumpers.
Territories:
These tamarins will mark their territory with their scent by sliding their
bottom, or by rubbing the scent on the bottom of their feet. When coming
into contact with other groups, instead of physical contact they will
threaten the other group with the showing of their bottoms as a territorial
display.
Communication:
Cotton-topped tamarins vocalize with birdlike whistles, soft chirping
sounds, high-pitched trilling and staccato calls. Researchers say their
repertory of 38 distinct sounds is unusually sophisticated, conforming to
grammatical rules and able to express curiosity, fear, dismay, playfulness,
warnings, joy and calls to young. They have loud territorial songs as well
as songs when they are excited. They also do tonguing which is when a
cotton-top tamarin rapidly moves the tongue out of its mouth across the
lips. This may be a recognition signal, or could be used to communicate
anger or curiosity. A "threat face" consists of lowering the forehead until
it forms a bulge which almost covers the eyes; the lips are pushed forward
and the head and neck crests are erected. This apparently is sufficient
since no other body language is used.
Habits:
They sleep in broad tree forks or cavities and are diurnal (active during
the day).
Status:
Life span in captivity has been as high as 25 years whereas life span in the
wild is about 13 – 16 years. The population is less than 1000 in the wild
and about 1800 in captivity, and is continuing to decline. This species is
endangered, having lost three-quarters of its original habitat to
deforestation. Clearing of forest habitat by people is the main problem and
populations also were depleted by taking them for the pet trade and for
scientific research. They are now protected by international law, although
they are numerous in captivity, they are still critically endangered in the
wild.