Common marmoset

Callithrix jacchus

TAXONOMY

Simia jacchus Linnaeus, 1758, Pernambuco, Brazil.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Ouistiti à toupet blanc; German: Weisspinselaffe; Portuguese: Sagüi-do-nordeste.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Average weight: 11.3 oz (320 g); head and body length: 7.3–9.8 in (18.5–25 cm); tail length: 11.6–13.8 in (29.5–35 cm). They display prominent white ear tufts.

DISTRIBUTION

Northeastern Brazil; introduced in eastern and southeastern Brazil.

HABITAT

Coastal forest, gallery forest, forest patches in open Caatinga and Cerrado bush land.

BEHAVIOR

Group size ranges between 3–15, with usually several adults of both sexes plus immature individuals. Home-range size is 1.2–16.1 acres (0.5–6.5 ha), daily path length is 0.3–0.6 mi (0.5–1 km). Home range overlap with neighboring groups is variable. Encounters between neighboring groups are frequent, usually initiated by long calling. Most interactions between members from different groups are hostile, involving chasing and genital displays, but copulations between members from different groups have also been observed during these encounters. Within-group social relations are highly affiliative. Grooming is the major social activity, and breeding adults are most frequently involved in grooming interactions. Aggression

between group members is rare in the wild and usually occurs only during feeding in exudates trees. In the dominance hierarchy, the breeding adults are at the top, and the non-breeding group members are arranged according to age with older individuals ranking higher than younger ones.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Common marmosets feed primarily on exudates and insects; eating only a little fruit and occasionally small vertebrates. Exudate flow is stimulated through gouging into the tree bark.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

They usually breed in monogamous pairs, but breeding by two females in the same group is quite common in the wild. Genetic data suggest that only one male breeds in a group. Despite observation of copulations between males and females from different groups, no infants seem to be fathered by extra-group males. Estrus cycle duration is 28–29 days, and gestation length is 141–146 days. In captivity, subordinate females do not show an estrus cycle. Two births per year are common both in captivity and in the wild. When two females are breeding simultaneously in the group, rearing success is lower in the subordinate female; even killing of subordinate female infants by the dominant female has been observed in a wild population. Adult males and other group members participate in infant carrying.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

One of the most widely used laboratory primates; also kept as pets. They have been introduced to areas outside their natural range.

Common Marmoset
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Suborder: Haplorrhini Family: Cebidae Genus: Callithrix Subgenus: Callithrix Species: C. jacchus
Binomial name
Callithrix (Callithrix) jacchus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Marmoset (Callithrix (Callithrix) jacchus) is a New World monkey. It originally seemed to only live on the northeast coast of Brazil. It was recently found also in southeast Brazil.

Description

The fur of the Common Marmoset is grey. The most distinguishing characteristic is the white, tufts of hair which surround the ears, which lend it another common name, the Cotton Eared Marmoset. A white mark is on the forehead and the face is hairless. The long tail is grey-white. Common Marmoset adult size ranges from 14 to 18 cm and they weigh approximately 400 g or 14ounces

Habitat

Like all callitrichines, Common Marmosets are diurnal. Their habitat ranges from the edge of forests into the deep forests, but they also appear in fields. They can run swiftly along the branches of trees and are also excellent jumpers.

Diet

The diet of the Common Marmoset consists of insects, spiders, small vertebrates, bird eggs and tree sap.

Behavior and reproduction

Common Marmosets live together in family groups of four to 15 animals, usually mated adults and their offspring. These groups inhabit territories of 300,000 square metres. The groups have a strict ranking, ordered by the dominance and aggressive behavior of the group leader.

Common Marmosets have variable mating systems: monogamous, polygynous and polyandrous. All adults and subadults share in the care of the young. After an approximately 150-day gestation, the female typically gives birth to twins, though up to four offspring have been observed in captive settings (larger litters suffer higher mortality rates). Compared to adults, the young animals are very large. Newborn twins together are 20 percent to 27 percent of the body weight of the mother, and it is assumed that the cooperative care of young helps counter some of the high costs of raising twin offspring. Males can mate after about one year, while females aren't fully mature until about 20 to 24 months.

Lifespan

The life expectancy of the Common Marmosets in the wild is about 10 years, although some living in captivity have lived to 16 years.

References

• Rylands et al (2003). Callithrix jacchus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
• Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 131. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 

External links

Wikispecies has information related to:

Common Marmoset

• Primate Info Net Callithrix jacchus Factsheet

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