Gold coat tamarin
| Gold coat tamarin | ||||||||||||
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Gold coat tamarin |
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| Leontocebus tripartitus | ||||||||||||
| ( Milne-Edwards , 1878) |
The gold-coated tamarin or tricolor tamarin ( Leontocebus tripartitus , syn .: Saguinus tripartitus ) is a primate species from the marmoset family (Callitrichidae). It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the brown-backed tamarin .
features
Like all tamarins, gold-mantled tamarins are relatively small primates, they reach a head body length of up to 24 centimeters, plus a 31 to 34 centimeter long tail. The head of these animals is colored black, the snout is white or light gray. The shoulders and front legs are bright orange-yellow, the rear part of the trunk is gray. The paws are also gray, as with all marmosets there are claws instead of nails on the fingers and toes (with the exception of the big toe). The long tail is colored black.
distribution and habitat
Gold-mantled tamarins are native to the western Amazon basin in South America, their range is south of the Río Napo in eastern Ecuador and northern Peru . The habitat of this species are tropical rainforests .
Way of life
Like all tamarins, they are diurnal tree dwellers and move on all fours or jumping. They live in groups of 4 to 8 animals. When there are several adult females in a group, one takes the dominant role. It is then the only one that reproduces and mates with all of the males in the group. As with most marmosets, twin births predominate and all animals in the group - including males - take care of the offspring.
They are omnivores that feed on insects, fruits, and nectar.
Danger
So far, the range of the gold-mantled tamarins has been largely untouched by humans, but the discovery of oil deposits could change that. The IUCN fears that the total population will decline by 25% in the next three generations (18 years) and therefore lists the species as " near threatened ".
Systematics
It was not until the 1980s that the gold-coat tamarin was granted the status of its own species. The basis for this decision was that it was believed that gold-coat and brown-backed tamarins are sympathetic in the area north of the Rio Napo, i.e. occur together. This sympatry is now in doubt (there is no evidence that gold-coat tamarins occur north of the Rio Napo). Due to the great similarities in the way of life, there is the proposal to downgrade the gold-coated tamarin back to the subspecies of the brown-backed tamarin, otherwise some other subspecies of the brown-backed tamarin would also have to receive species status.
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- ↑ Eckhard W. Heymann: Field Observations of the Golden-Mantled Tamarin, Saguinus tripartitus , on the Río Curaray, Peruvian Amazonia. In: Folia Primatologica: 71 (6), 2000, pp. 392-398.
Web links
- Photos at arkive.org
- Information at theprimata.com
- Saguinus tripartitus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Rylands, AB & Mitter Meier, RA, 2008. Accessed on 18 1st of 2009.