Saguinus midasMidas tamarin

Ge­o­graphic Range

The red-handed tamarin lives in north­ern Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suri­nam.

Habi­tat

The red-footed tamarins live in trees with small crowns (less than 15 m in di­am­e­ter).

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The head and body mea­sure from 20.5 to 28 cm, the tail from 31.5 to 44 cm. There is no ob­vi­ous sex­ual di­mor­phism. The face is black with long hairs. It does not have the whitish fur around the mouth that is char­ac­ter­is­tic of other tamarins in the long-tusked tamarin group. The body is also black, ex­cept for the hands and feet, which are or­ange-red or yel­low. There are claws on all dig­its ex­cept for the big toe, which has the flat­tened nail char­ac­ter­is­tic of pri­mates. Also, the thumb lacks a sad­dle joint and is not op­pos­able. There are spe­cial­ized scent glands in the mid­ch­est and around the gen­i­talia, the se­cre­tions of which are used to mark ter­ri­tory and con­vey in­for­ma­tion about iden­tity, sta­tus, and sex­ual re­cep­tiv­ity of in­di­vid­u­als.

  • Range mass
    400 to 550 g
    14.10 to 19.38 oz

Re­pro­duc­tion

The young are cared for by all adult mem­bers of a group, with males and other fe­males as­sist­ing at birth and car­ing for the young when they are not being suck­led. There is usu­ally only one breed­ing fe­male and two or more breed­ing males in a group. The sup­pres­sion of re­pro­duc­tive ac­tiv­ity in non-dom­i­nant fe­males is a re­sult of in­hibitory be­hav­ior of the dom­i­nant fe­male com­bined with loss of ovu­la­tory ca­pac­ity in the sub­or­di­nate fe­male.

Adult tamarins reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at age 16-20 months. One, usu­ally two, or rarely three young are born after a ges­ta­tion last­ing 140-145 days. The young weigh about 45 grams at birth. Wean­ing oc­curs at age 2-3 months. Red-footed tamarins live to the age of 10 or more years.

  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 3
  • Average number of offspring
    2
    AnAge
  • Range gestation period
    140 to 145 days
  • Range weaning age
    2 to 3 months
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    16 to 20 months
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    16 to 20 months

The young are cared for by all adult mem­bers of a group, with males and other fe­males as­sist­ing at birth and car­ing for the young when they are not being suck­led. Fe­males nurse their young for two to three months.

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

  • Average lifespan
    Status: captivity
    21 years
    AnAge

Be­hav­ior

Red-footed tamarins live in groups of 2-6, con­sist­ing of mixed ages and both sexes. They are ac­tive by day and hold a ter­ri­tory of ap­prox­i­mately 10 hectares. Within the group, there is lit­tle in­tra­group ag­gres­sion (even among breed­ing males) and much co­op­er­a­tion and tol­er­ance. They are mostly ar­bo­real, and leap from tree to tree or tree to ground, and have been known to make leaps from as high as 20m to the ground with­out any sign of in­jury.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

Like most tamarins, the red-footed tamarin eats mainly in­sects, ripe fruit, and plant ex­u­dates such as sap, gum, and resin. It also in­cludes nec­tar, ten­der veg­e­ta­tion, spi­ders, small ver­te­brates, and birds' eggs in its diet. Prey is killed with a bite to the head.

  • Animal Foods
  • eggs
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • Plant Foods
  • leaves
  • fruit
  • nectar
  • sap or other plant fluids

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

The de­struc­tion of trop­i­cal rain­for­est threat­ens the habi­tat of the red-footed tamarin, ul­ti­mately threat­en­ing the liveli­hood of the species.

Other Com­ments

The main en­e­mies of the red-footed tamarin are small cats, birds of prey, and snakes.

Con­trib­u­tors

Emily Cloyd (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

arboreal

Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

cooperative breeder

helpers provide assistance in raising young that are not their own

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
dominance hierarchies

ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

polyandrous

Referring to a mating system in which a female mates with several males during one breeding season (compare polygynous).

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

saltatorial

specialized for leaping or bounding locomotion; jumps or hops.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mam­mals of the World. Bal­ti­more: Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Wal­ters, J., K. Im­mel­mann. 1990. Mar­mosets and Tamarins. Pp. 183-204 in S Parker, ed. Grz­imek's En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Mam­mals. New York: Mc­Graw-Hill Pub­lish­ing Com­pany.

Wil­son, D., D. Reeder. 1993. Mam­mal Species of the World. Wash­ing­ton, D.C.: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.