Common Marmoset
TAXONOMY = cool Latin name!
Family: Cebidae
Subfamily: Callitrichinae
Genus: Callithrix
Subgenus: Callithrix
Species: C. jacchus
Other names: true marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset
Coat color and appearance:
- Black and gray fur with black fur over head and neck
- Prominent white ear tufts in adults and juveniles.
- Infants lack ear tufts and have gray fur over head and neck.
- Tail has alternating wide dark bands and pale narrow bands.
Body size:
- Adult weight: 300-500 grams
- Adult body length (without tail): 14-19 centimeters
Dentition:
- Specialized lower incisors. These teeth are enlarged and chiseled to enhance the ability to gnaw holes in trees.
- Short canines
Life History:
- Life span: 12 years
- Age at maturity: 18 months
- Age at first reproduction: 17-20 months
- Gestation: 144 days
- Number of offspring: usually 2
- Seasonal births every 6 months
- Age infant weaned: 2 months
Locomotion:
- Arboreal
- Quadrupedal running, vertical clinging and leaping on branches. Replacement of nails with claws assists in locomotion.
Conservation status: Least concern
Diet
The common marmoset, like other marmosets and tamarins, relies on a diet of tree exudates (gums and saps), small animal prey, and fruits.
- Marmosets gain access to exudates from a variety of tree species by gnawing holes in the tree bark. The specialized dentition of the common marmoset acts as a tool facilitating access to gums and saps
- Examples of animal prey include: grasshoppers, cicadas, crickets, and cockroaches
- Fruit sources range in size from small to large and tend to be sweet and soft.
Dependence on tree exudates is very common among marmosets, but is much less so among tamarins. Among marmosets, but not among tamarins, exudates often serve as an important food source when others are limited.
Behavior:
- Common marmosets are active for 11 to 12 hours per day, usually from 30 minutes after sunrise to about 30 minutes before sunset
After waking up, common marmosets feed intensively for about an hour and then spend the rest of the day alternating between feeding, resting, and socializing. When they rest, common marmosets adopt a sprawling position and can spend long periods of time (over 30 minutes) without moving. At the end of the day, common marmosets enter sleeping trees about one hour before sunset; A group sleeps together in a sleeping site presumably for safety from predators.
- Common marmosets are very vigilant and have specialized alarm calls which elicit certain avoidance responses from other members of the group as well as mobbing behaviors toward potential predators.