Like other primates, communication in this species involves many different channels. Vocal communication consists of whistles and chirps.
Chemical communication in tamarins is more complex. Supapubic/sternal marking is used by rubbing the sternal gland in the anogenital region against branches. Two forms of sternal marking are used, depending on how excited and individual is.
In addition to vocal and chemical communication, primates have complex tactile communication. Grooming is an important part of their behavior. In addition, tactile communication between mates, parents and offspring, and rivals probably occur in other contexts.
Because these animals are diurnal and social, it is likely that they also use some visual signals in their communication. Body postures and movements probably signify intentions and desires to other tamarins.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Brazilian bare-faced tamarins are listed as threatened species under the US Endangered Species Act, and are on CITES Appendix II.
US Federal List: threatened
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
There are no known adverse affects of S. bicolor on humans.
Brazilian bare-faced tamarins are utilized for food in the region of Manaus.
Positive Impacts: food
Little is known about the ecosystem roles of the bicolored tamarins. They may help to pollinate and disperse seeds by eating fruits, nectars, and seedpod gums from various plants and trees.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds; pollinates
The fruits or flowers of 21 plants compose 96.1% of the plant component of the diet, along with tree exudates. Small animal prey, including insects, and seedpod gums are consumed during the dry season. A stealthy approach is used to hunt and capture large insects on leaves and branches. While they feed at all canopy heights, from the ground to over 20 meters, they prefer heights of 10 to 12 meters.
Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: leaves; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit; flowers; sap or other plant fluids
Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore )
Native to the Brazilian rainforest, Saguinus bicolor is found in a small region north of the Amazon River.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Brazilian bare-faced tamarins are an arboreal species that prefers secondary forests, swamps, edge and white sand forests. They are usually found from 10 to 12 meters up in the canopy.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Wetlands: swamp
Although the longevity of S. bicolor has not been reported, members of this genus may live as long as 25 years in captivity. It is likely that S. bicolor is similar. Lifespan in the wild is probably significantly shorter.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 19 years.
Brazilian bare-faced tamarins are named for their black, hairless face and ears contrasted with variable fur colors such as brown, black, or silver, depending on the subspecies. Body length ranges from 208 to 283 mm and tail length is 335 to 420 mm. Weight in both males and females averages 430 g. These primates have non-opposable thumbs with claw-like digits, except for the first digit on each toe. The dental formula is 2/2-1/1-3/3-2/2=32 teeth. Canines are larger than incisors.
Average mass: 430 g.
Range length: 208 to 283 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Average mass: 495.8 g.
Predators of Brazilian bare-faced tamarins are predominately humans, through the expanding city of Manaus.
Known Predators:
Usually only the dominant female in a social group will mate. Other females are unable to ovulate as long as the dominant female's pheromones are present. Although usually only the dominant female in a social group breeds, it is not known which males participate in breeding, and whether the species is polyandrous. It should be noted, however, that in other species of this genus, the dominant female has been observed copulating with more than one adult male, and given other similarities between all tamarins, it is likely that S. bicolor shows some degree of polyandry.
Mating System: monogamous ; polyandrous
Eighty percent of births are twins, with litter weights ranging from 14.1 to 23.5% of the maternal weight. Within the genus Saguinus, it is common for the father as well as other members of the group to assist in the care, grooming, carrying, and feeding of young.
Generally, within the genus Saguinus, the young are born fully furred, but helpless. However, they are able to cling to their parents. The young are able to explore their environment on their own by about 21 days of age, but they continue to ride on their parents until they are 6 or 7 weeks old. Solid foods may be ingested by the young as early as 4 weeks of age, although nursing can continue much longer.
Females have an estrous cycle of approximately 15 days in this genus. Gestation lengths for these tamarins have been reported as around 140-150 days. Females reach reproductive maturity around 18 months of age, and males reach reproductive maturity around 2 years of age. It is reasonable to suspect that S. bicolor is similar to its congeners in these respects.
Breeding interval: These animals probably breed annually.
Breeding season: Repoduction in the genus Saguinus is reported to be aseasonal, although peaks of births may occur in March through May.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Range gestation period: 140 to 150 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 18 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 24 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average number of offspring: 1.63.
Parental care in tamarins is somewhat unique among primates, in that males provide a great deal of it. Both parents provide general care for their young, but the males usually carry them. Males transfer the young back to the mother every couple of hours to nurse. It is thought that the energetic demands of lactation and carrying such relatively heavy twin offspring are just too much for a single mother to manage.
From birth until 20 weeks of age, juveniles are given solid food by both parents, although fathers take the lead in providing such food for the young. Self-feeding is dominant after this period.
It is interesting to examine the communal care of offspring in tamarin species with regard to the polyandrous mating system noted in some species. It may be that this system has evolved because the energetic burden of reproduction in these small animals, which subsist mainly on high quality fruit and insect foods, is so very great. Because the young weigh so much, grow rapidly, and need a lot of milk, a mother is not able to carry the twins, and simultaneously obtain enough food to maintain both herself and her milk supply. In order to ensure that the offspring have a good chance of survival, a male may benefit by allowing another male to mate with a female (thereby reducing certainty of paternity) but providing an additional "father" to share the responsibilities of rearing the young. This may increase survivorship of the young tamarins.
Nonreproductive individuals in tamarin social groups have also been seen to care for young, although at a lower frequency than parents. This sort of alloparental behavior may benefit the helpers by giving them valuable experience in the care of the young, and also in ensuring the survival of siblings or other close relatives. Although not specifically reported for S. bicolor, it is likely that some of this helping behavior occurs.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); post-independence association with parents; extended period of juvenile learning
The pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor), sometimes referred to as the Brazilian bare-faced tamarin, is a Critically Endangered primate species found in a restricted area of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. It was named the mascot of Manaus, Brazil in 2005.[3][5] The species is endangered due to the increasing size of the city of Manaus which is encroaching on their native habitat.
A New World monkey, it is found at the city limits of Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas state of Brazil and up to 35 km to the north and 100 km to the east.[3] The main distribution is in the rio Cuieiras and rio Preto da Eva interfluvium. Pied tamarins are also found in the adjacent rio Preto da Eva and rio Urubu interfluvium, but are comparatively rare.[6] There appears to be interspecific competition between the pied tamarin and the red-handed tamarin[6] with the red-handed tamarin gradually displacing the pied tamarin from areas of its historical distribution.[7] Therefore there are multiple threats to the long-term survival of the pied tamarin that stem from habitat destruction and from interspecific competition.
The pied tamarin is found in old-growth forests, sand forest and smaller secondary forest fragments. Their density is higher in secondary forest fragments than in primary forest.[3]
The pied tamarin's body measures 20.8–28.3 cm.; including the tail it measures 33.5–42.0 cm. The tamarin has a brown lower body and a fluffy white upper body. Their face is black and hairless, the reason for its nickname: the Brazilian bare-faced tamarin.
The pied tamarin does not have nails, but instead has claws that they adapted in order to quickly scale trees in order to retrieve food or escape predators. These nails also allow the tamarin to dig into tree bark and extract sap which they then eat.[5]
Males weigh 428 grams (n = 4).[8] Its life expectancy is approximately 10 years in the wild.[9]
Individuals live in groups of 2 to 15 members with little intra-group competition. Average group size in the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke is 4.8 individuals per group (n = 41),[10] and other areas around Manaus reported mean group sizes of 6.19 ± 2.62 (n = 46).[11] A tamarin group has a home range of 10-100 ha.
Tamarins are unlike most other mammals in the sense that the females are considered to be the dominant gender. In each group of individuals only one female is selected to breed and reproduce children. This individual is called the "Alpha Female" and reproduction by other females of the group is behaviorally suppressed.[12] The gestation lasts 140–170 days and mothers typically give birth to twins. Although they generally give birth to twins the fact that only one female per group can produce offspring is a major cause in their reduced population size. Young tamarins are cared for primarily by the father and turned over to the mother only to nurse; however, the entire group helps with the care of the younglings that the alpha female birthed.[5]
Tamarins are omnivorous, their diet consisting of fruit, flowers, nectar, insects, spiders, small vertebrates and bird eggs.[6] Its natural predators are small cats, birds of prey, and snakes. In urban settings like Manaus, the main predators are domestic and feral cats and dogs. Because of the destruction of its natural habitat, the species is at risk which is why the species has landed on the IUCN red list for endangered species as well as the top 25 most endangered primates list in Brazil.[13]
As of 2015, the pied tamarin is rated critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. The pied tamarin's population is expected to decline 80% by 2033 due to anthropogenic threats, competition with golden-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas) and disease. Within the Manaus area, pied tamarins are threatened by domestic and feral cats and dogs, electrocution from power lines, and the pet trade. Additionally, rural settlement and increasing livestock agriculture continue to encroach upon and degrade the pied tamarin's remaining habitat.[3]
The pied tamarin is protected in some parts of its range, such as in Sumaúma State Park (52 ha), Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve (18,240 ha) and less than half of Puranga Conquista Sustainable Development Reserve (157,807 ha). The Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva (CIGS)(115,000 ha) is an important protected area for the species, however it is not a conservation area but a military jungle training facility and so the area's status is uncertain.[3] This organism is endangered due to its severe threat of species encroaching on its habitat and this will cause various issues to the ecosystem and environment.
Both European and American zoos and conservation services have pitched in financially to help out in saving the pied tamarin species.[13] While there are only two areas in the world that are protected for the tamarins, and both are under 50 hectares, the conservation efforts have allowed for the reforestation of these places and the slow and uncertain return of the tamarins native habitat.[14]
There is an established captive breeding program for the pied tamarin and an official studbook.[15] As of 2009, there are 172 pied tamarins in captivity and all are registered property of the Brazilian government.[3] Unfortunately for the tamarins, their captive breeding success rate is limited and thus it is difficult to resurrect the population artificially.[16]
The tamarins live nearby the rapidly growing city of Manaus, and as the city's area increases in size, the tamarins habitat disappears. When they can avoid the busy automobile traffic and the electric power lines, the pied tamarin reside in the small sections of forest that still remain in Manaus.[17]
Being an omnivore, the pied tamarins diet consists highly of plants. They pick up plant seeds when they eat and disperse them around their environment, thus bolstering their ecosystem.[7] They also dine on small animals, which keeps the insect and amphibian populations in check. With the declining tamarin population, the issue becomes bigger than just the primates, but now turns into an ecosystem issue. There is no way to know for certain how the loss of the pied tamarin population will affect the Amazonian ecosystem, but there almost undoubtedly will be effects.[5]
Pied tamarin in captivity The pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor), sometimes referred to as the Brazilian bare-faced tamarin, is a Critically Endangered primate species found in a restricted area of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. It was named the mascot of Manaus, Brazil in 2005. The species is endangered due to the increasing size of the city of Manaus which is encroaching on their native habitat.
