Cottontop Tamarin

Animal Unique | Cottontop Tamarin | The Cottontop tamarin is a small species of monkey found in the forests of South America. The cottontop tamarin is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests from Costa Rica to north western Columbia where the cottontop tamarin spends the majority of it's life in the trees. The forelimbs of the cottontop tamarin are shorter than the hind limbs, and unlike other monkeys the thumb of the cottontop tamarin is not opposable and it does not have a prehensile tail.

The cottontop tamarin is a diurnal primate which means that the cottontop tamarin is most active during the day and rests in the safety of the tree tops during the night. cottontop tamarins are very sociable animals and inhabit their territory with their rest of the cottontop tamarin troop which generally have between 2 and 14 members. Cottontop tamarin troops are led by the eldest female and have predominantly male members.

Cottontop Tamarin Facts
Kingdom:    Animalia
Phylum:    Chordata
Class:    Mammalia
Order:    Primates
Family:    Callitrichidae
Genus:    Saguinus

The cottontop tamarin is an omnivorous animal meaning that the cottontop tamarin hunts both plants and other animals in order to survive. Due to the relatively small size of the cottontop tamarin, it has a number of predators within it's natural environment. Wild cats, dogs, snakes and birds of prey are primary predators of the cottontop tamarin, along with humans who are destroying their natural habitat.

The cottontop tamarin usually breeds between the months of April and July, when the female cottontop tamarin will give birth to twins (or a single infant) after a four to five month gestation period. The male cottontop tamarins carry and groom infants more than the females do, but females clean the infant more than the males do.  Infant cottontop tamarins become mobile at 2 to 5 weeks, and begin eating solid food at 4 to 7 weeks.Today, the cottontop tamarin is considered to be a critically endangered species with an estimated wild cottontop tamarin population of just 6,000.

Animal Discovery And Animal Unique In The World

Animal Unique