Aripuanã marmoset

Mico intermedius

TAXONOMY

Callithrix humeralifer intermedius Hershkovitz, 1977, Rio Aripuanã, Brazil.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Ouistiti à camail; German: Weissschulterseidenaffe; Portuguese: Sagüi-de-Aripuanã.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Average head and body length: 9.4 in (24 cm); tail length: 12.6 in (32 cm). The head and upper half of the body is creamy white, while the lower half is brown.

DISTRIBUTION

Brazilian Amazonia, between Rio Aripuanã and Rio Roosevelt.

HABITAT

Tropical rainforest, both in mature and secondary vegetation.

BEHAVIOR

Groups are normally between 4–13 individuals, usually including more than one adult of each sex. Home-range size is around 69 acres (28 ha), overlap with neighboring groups is around 22%. Daily path length is 0.5–1.3 mi (0.8–2.1 km). Scent marking performed most frequently with suprapubic gland, but sternal marking is also quite common, and by both sexes with similar rates. Scent marks are distributed throughout home range, but more in peripheral areas, and also more often during encounters with neighboring groups.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

They primarily feed on fruits and arthropods; exudates are much less important than in eastern Brazilian marmosets, and tree gouging rarely employed. Occasionally small vertebrates are taken. They have been observed to forage over swarms of army ants (Eciton burchelli).

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Mating is not confined to a single pair, but several adult males and females have been seen copulating. However, only a single female gives birth. Births occur seasonally, with two peaks at the end of the dry season and the second half of the wet season. Adult males and other group members participate in infant carrying.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.