Black Tufted-ear Marmoset (Callithrix penicillata)


MORPHOLOGY:
The black tufted-ear marmoset has nonopposable thumbs and nails of the digits which are claw-like.

RANGE:
The black tufted-ear marmoset is endemic to the forests and savannas of Brazil, which tend to be seasonal habitats (Rylands et al., 1993).

ECOLOGY:
Gums make up >70 % of the plant part of the diet of the black tufted-ear marmoset (Fonseca and Lacher, 1984). Being highly gummivorous may explain why the black tufted-ear marmoset has a small home range (Rylands and de Faria, 1993).

LOCOMOTION:
This species moves through the forest quadrupedally, but is capable of leaping (Fleagle, 1988).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
This species is reproductively monogamous.

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:
The black tufted-ear marmoset scent-marks at tree sap holes which may communicate time between usage for a specific group, preventing two different groups meeting at the same holes in a tree at the same time (Lacher et al., 1981).

suprapubic marking: this is when an individual presses the suprapubic pad against a substrate and deposits secretions by pulling itself along or by pushing itself with its feet (Epple et al., 1993). This behavior pattern is frequent in the black tufted-ear marmoset and can occur more frequently by an individual where the home ranges of two groups overlap, thus suggesting a use for demarcation of territory (Rylands, 1990).

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
This species gives birth to twins (Fleagle, 1988).

REFERENCES:
Epple, G., Belcher, A.M., Kuderling, I., Zeller, U., Scolnick, L., Greenfield, K.L., Smith III, A.B. 1993. Making Sense Out of Scents: Species Differences in Scent Glands, Scent-marking Behaviour, and Scent-mark Composition in the Callitrichdae. in Marmosets and Tamarins: Systematics, Behaviour, and Ecology. ed. Anthony B. Rylands, Oxford University Press.

Fleagle, John G. 1988. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press.

Fonseca, G.A.B. and Lacher, T.E.,Jr. 1984. Exudate-feeding by Callithrix jacchus penicillata in Semideciduous Woodland (Cerradao) in Central Brazil. Primates. Vol.25, 441-450.

Lacher, T.E., Jr, Fonseca, G.A.B. da, Alves, C., Jr, and Magalhaes-Castro, B. 1981. Exudate-eating, Scent Marking and Territoriality in a Wild Population of Marmosets. Animal Behaviour. Vol.29, 307-307.

Rylands, A.B. 1990. Scent Marking Behaviour of Wild Marmosets, Callithrix humeralifer (Callitrichidae, Primates). In Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 5. (ed. D.W. Macdonald, D. Muller-Schwarze, and S.E. Natynczuk), pp. 415-29. Oxford University Press.

Rylands, Anthony B. and de Faria, Doris S. 1993. Habitats, Feeding Ecology, and Home Range Size in the genus Callithrix. in Marmosets and Tamarins: Systematics, Behaviour, and Ecology. ed. Anthony B. Rylands. Oxford University Press.

Rylands, A.B., Coimbra-Filho, A.F., and Mittermeier, R.A. 1993. Systematics, Geographic Distribution, and Some Notes on the Conservation Status of the Callitrichidae. In Marmosets and Tamarins: Systematics, Behaviour, and Ecology. Oxford University Press.

Last Updated: October 6, 2003.
[The Primata] [Primate Fact Sheets] [Family Callitrichidae] [Callithrix Links]