ECOLOGY

Habitat

• Cotton-top marmosets are found in humid tropical forests, dry deciduous forests, and secondary growth forests; they are much more used to rainfall than we are!


• They use several layers of the forests by moving vertically between understory and canopy areas, but they most prefer to reside in trees.
  If found on the ground, they are most likely foraging among leaf litter for food.
  
• They are mostly found at elevations between 400-1500 meters (1312-4921 feet).

Food requirements

• Their main sources of food include insects, fruit, plant exudates, and nectar.
  
• Plant exudates are an essential source of minerals and other nutrients for them.
  
• Tamarins do not have the same adaptations to eating gum, sap, resin and latex (or exudates, substances found in plants) that other marmosets do, which explains their diet rich in insects and fruits.


• They depend on other means of eating exudates, such as finding bark that has weathered off a tree or holes in plants left by other insects.


• They have also been known to eat reptiles and amphibians.

Other niche requirements

• Tamarins pounce, turn over leaves, explore crevices, and move around stealthily and rapidly to seize their insect prey.


• They are also very important seed dispersers in tropical ecosystems.


• Tamarins ingest and void seeds that are even larger than species much bigger than them (such as chimpanzees) do not eat.


• Swallowing such large seeds probably helps the animals get rid of parasites found in their intestines and digestive tract.

Behavior

• A typical day for a cotton-top marmoset would start about an hour and 20 minutes after the sun comes up. The animals would awake together (they sleep in groups), and the entire group would leave the sleeping tree at the same time.


• Tamarins usually do not use the same tree for consecutive nights to sleep in.
  
• The rest of the day would include phases of foraging, resting, and traveling. First they would spend a great deal of time traveling and foraging, but as the day goes on, they would take longer and longer resting breaks in between. One could even say that they take a lunch break like we do, followed by a somewhat restored state that allows them to again travel around more quickly for the remainder of their ‘work’ day.


• Even while the group is resting during the day, though, one member will separate itself and guard so it can easily warn the group of potential dangers.
  
• They are extremely vigilant and are constantly scanning for potential predators above and around them.

Natural predators

• Cotton-top marmosets’ main predators are: raptors, mustelids, felids, and snakes.

Reproduction

• Tamarins are known for giving birth to non-identical twins.


• They have a pregnancy period of 6 months, or 183 days.


• Both parents seem to care for their young, who tend to ‘grow up’ and leave home between 18 months (for females) and 2 years (for males).

Research done on tamarins

• One of the most know (and only) long-term studies conducted on the cotton-top marmoset was done by primatologist Patricia Neyman in the mid-70s.


• Neyman studied the species’ daily habits as well as the characteristic and mannerisms of individual animals.

Video of a tamarin eating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5YWPmItWDQ