The red-capped tamarin (''Saguinus mystax pileatus'')'','' is subspecies of

moustached tamarin The moustached tamarin (''Saguinus mystax'') is a New World monkey and a species of tamarin. The moustached tamarin is named for the lack of coloring in the facial hair surrounding their mouth, appearing similar to a moustache. As with all New Wo ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. They are found in

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 ...

, on the eastern margin of the

Tefé Tefé, known in early accounts as Teffé, is a municipality in the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil. Location Tefé is located about 525 km by air or 595 km by river to the west of Manaus on the south bank of the Rio Solimões (th ...

and

Coari Coari (''Choary'') is a Brazilian municipality in the Amazon region. Location The municipal seat of Coari is one of the largest cities of the Amazonas state. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Coari. The area has reserves of oil a ...

rivers. Previously recognised as a separate species, ''Saguinus pilatus'', the red-capped tamarin was demoted to subspecies status by a taxonomic review by Rylands et al., (2016).

Description

Like all tamarins they are relatively small, growing up to 56 cm long. They have claws instead of nails and their fur is mainly black in color, as it is with feet, hands and tail. The hair is uniformly black, except for the one around the muzzle, being their "mustache", however, smaller than that of the moustached tamarins. The hair of the head, from the nape to the forehead, has reddish tones almost of a deep burgundy color, which have earned the species their common and scientific names.

Distribution and habitat

Little is known about the habits of these primates. They are presumably similar to the moustached tamarins. They live in the western Amazon Basin in South America. Their distribution area is located in western Brazil, south of the Amazon River, in the eastern margin of the Tefe and Coari rivers. Their habitat is in rainforests densely covered with undergrowth. They are diurnal and arboreal, living together in small groups led by a dominant female. The females can mate promiscuously with all the males (polyandry), but were also seen cases of

polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

and

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyg ...

. They mainly feed on fruits and insects, but occasionally they also eat eggs and small vertebrates.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1367750 red-capped tamarin Mammals of Brazil Endemic fauna of Brazil red-capped tamarin Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Taxa named by Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville