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Aug 21, 2011 Features / Columnists, Interesting Creatures in Guyana
Interesting Creatures…
The golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is an endangered species with an estimated wild population of “more than 1,000 individuals” and a captive population maintained at approximately 490 individuals.
As its name would suggest, the lion tamarin is a reddish-orange to golden brown in colour. Its hair is longer and darker around the face, forming a mane on top of the head and on the cheeks and throat. Its limbs are slender yet capable with sharp claw-like nails (called tegulae), befitting its strictly arboreal life. Although quite long, its tail is not prehensile. The tail and forepaws of this monkey may have a black colouration. Its body may be up to 335 millimetres (13.2 in) long and its tail up to 400 millimetres (15.7 in). The male reaches a maximum weight of just 700 grams (25 oz) in the wild though higher weights can be found in captivity. The pregnant female may weigh up to 790 grams (28 oz) but a non-gestating female typically weighs closer to 550 grams (19 oz).
The golden lion tamarin is diurnal and primarily arboreal, forming small groups of patrols with a consistent territory of around 400,000 square metres (100 acres). Fighting between groups is avoided by scent marking and ritual encounters. By night, the tamarins sleep in abandoned nesting holes in trees, or in large bromeliads.
The group is cooperative in the rearing of young. However, only the dominant female breeds and mates with several males, a polyandrous mating system. The males are responsible for the bulk of rearing duties, with the mother nursing and providing transportation for the infant during its first week of life. Resources are shared among the group, as are predator surveillance duties. The young are well cared for until adolescence. Unlike other primates, both males and females leave the group. The migrants’ rate of survival is low, as less than one quarter successfully integrate into a new group or establish themselves in an unoccupied territory.
Fully mature at 56–75 days, the golden lion tamarin is able to breed at 18 months of age. The breeding season is from September to March. Gestation lasts for 126–136 days, usually ending in twin births. There may be up to two litters annually. The young tamarins are weaned after just 90 days. Less than half of infants survive their first year of life. If they do, a typical tamarin lifespan is about 8 years. The oldest recorded tamarin died at the age of 31 at the San Antonio Zoo, Texas, in 1999.
Most of the wild population is confined to the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, a protected area of swampy forests in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is an important bastion of the golden lion tamarin, as only 2% of forests in the monkey’s original range remains. Furthermore, its existing habitat has been broken up by logging and agriculture. This attrition has led to isolated populations and inbreeding, a combination likely to result in extinction.
A high canopy with dense tangles of vines is required by the golden lion tamarin. Other than providing a home, the labyrinthine forest affords some degree of protection from its many predators. The species’ main predators are raptors, large cats and snakes. The canopy also provides an important source of food. These omnivorous primates rely on rainwater and insects concentrated in the reservoirs of bromeliads and other small animals inhabiting the bark of trees. Fruit is also consumed.
In an attempt to curb the golden lion tamarin’s precipitous decline, several conservation programmes have been undertaken. The intent is to strengthen the wild population and maintain a secure captive population in zoos worldwide. The survival rate of re-introduced animals has been encouraging, but destruction of unprotected habitat continues.
(Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
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