Mottle-face Tamarin (Saguinus inustus)

MORPHOLOGY:
The mottle-face tamarin has nonopposable thumbs and the nails of the digits are claw-like except for the first digit on each toe. Unlike the marmosets, this species, like all tamarins, has canines that are larger than the incisors, and their teeth morphology does not allow them to gnaw into the bark for gum (exudates) like the marmosets (Fleagle, 1988). The hair of the mottle-face tamarin is black with areas of the face lacking pigmentation.

RANGE:
The mottle-face tamarin is found in the countries of Brazil and Colombia. This species lives in lowland rainforests in the canopy level.

ECOLOGY:
The mottle-face tamarin forages for a number of food items including: insects, ripe fruits, gum (exudates), and nectar (Kinzey, 1997). When they feed on exudates (gum) they cling vertically with their claws embedded into the bark of the tree (Kinzey, 1997). They can only forage upon exudates (gum) that are already coming out of the tree by other means (Kinzey, 1997). The mottle-face tamarin group has a size of no larger than 10 individuals. This is an arboreal species.

LOCOMOTION:
This diurnal species walks or runs quadrupedally through the forest, and is capable of leaping between branches (Snowdon and Soini, 1988).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
The mottle-face tamarin has a multimale-multifemale social system (Kinzey, 1997). The groups consist of unrelated adults, and the main mating system is polyandry, with monogamy and polygyny being reported (Kinzey, 1997). The offspring are cared for by all adult group members, which includes the males (Kinzey, 1997).

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:
circumanal marking: This is when a emperor tamarin rubs the substrate with the circumanal areas in a sitting position; this is the most frequent marking behavior for this species (Epple et al., 1993).

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The mottle-face tamarin gives birth to twins like most callitrichids (Kinzey, 1997).

REFERENCES:
Burton, Frances. 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non-human Primates. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc.

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.

Kinzey, W.G. 1997. Saguinus. in New World Primates: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. ed. Warren G. Kinzey, Aldine de Gruyter, New York.

Snowdon, C.T. and Soini, P. 1988. The Tamarins, Genus Saguinus. in Ecology and Behavior of Neotropical Primates, Vol. 2 PP. 223-298. Eds, R.A. Mittermeier, A.B. Rylands, A.F. Coimbra-Filho, and G.A.B. da Fonseca. Washington, DC: World Wildlife Fund.

Last Updated: October 15, 2003.
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