The four
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of lion tamarins or maned marmosets make up the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Leontopithecus''. They are small
New World monkey
New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ( ...
s named for the mane surrounding their face, similar to the mane of a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
.
Description
Living in the
eastern rainforests of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, like all other
callitrichids they are
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...
. Lion tamarins weigh up to and are about long, with tails about long. They jump through trees using their fingers to hold on to branches; they use their claws to dig under the bark to search for insects to eat. They also eat some snakes, small lizards, and small fruits. All are endangered or critically endangered, in part because their habitat has been severely disrupted by human development and climate change.
Lion tamarins tend to live in family groups, with both parents sharing different tasks of rearing the yearly twins born to them. The mother nurses her young every two to three hours, and the father carries the babies on his back.
Diurnal tree-dwellers, they sleep in tree cavities at night. They also seek shelter during the hottest part of the day.
Species list
The different species of lion tamarins are easily discernible from each other, based upon the coloration of their fur:
[
]
Conservation
Climate change has been affecting the lion tamarins in that cocoa production has taken over their habitat. Mass produced cocoa has been found to thin out surrounding canopy trees in the area. These trees are where lion tamarins mostly resign throughout the day.
See also
*Tamarin
The tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus ''Saguinus''. They are the first offshoot in the Callitrichidae tree, and therefore are the sister group of a clade formed by the lion tamarins, Goel ...
, genus ''Saguinus''
References
External links
* http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/tamarin.html
Primate Info Net ''Leontopithecus'' Factsheets
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