| Golden lion tamarin[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| At Marwell Wildlife, England | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Callitrichidae |
| Genus: | Leontopithecus |
| Species: | L. rosalia |
| Binomial name | |
| Leontopithecus rosalia (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia, Portuguese: Mico-leão Dourado) also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is an endangered species with an estimated wild population of "more than 1,000 individuals" and a captive population maintained at approximately 490 individuals.[3]
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The golden lion tamarin gets its name from its fiery orange or red pelage and the extra long hairs that form along its cheek, throat and ears, giving it a distinctive mane.[4] Its face is dark and hairless. It is believed that the hair color of the tamarin is due to exposure to sunlight or the carotenoids in its diet.[5] The golden lion tamarin is the largest of the callitrichines. It is 261 mm (10.3 in) tall on average and has an average weight of 620 g (1.37 lb). There is almost no size difference between males and females. As with all callitrichines, the golden lion tamarin has tegulae, which are claw-like nails, instead of ungulae or flat nails found in all other primates, including humans. Tegulaes enable tamarins to cling to the side of tree trunks. They may also move quadrupedally along the smaller branches, whether through walking, running, leaping or bounding.[6] This gives it a locomotion more similar to squirrels than primates.
The golden lion tamarin has a very limited distribution range. It is found only in Brazil where it lives in 14 highly fragmented forests remnants totaling 154 km square (59.5 mi square). Tamarins live along the far southeastern border of the country in the municipalities of Silva Jardim, Cabo Frio, Saquarema, and Araruama.[7] However, that have been successfully reintroduced to the municipalities of Rio das Ostras, Rio Bonito, and Casimiro de Abreu.[8] Tamarins live in coastal lowland forests below 300 m (984 ft) above sea level.[9] They can be found in hilltop forests and swamp forests.
Golden lion tamarins are active 12 hours a day. They leave their nesting sites shortly around dawn and establish new nighttime dens before dusk.[10] The early morning is spent traveling and feeding on fruits. As the afternoon nears, tamarins focus more on insects and spend much of the early afternoon feeding on them. The late afternoon is spent traveling to their nighttime dens.[10] Tamarin groups sleep in hollow tree cavities or in dense vines or epiphytes. They do not sleep in the same spot on consecutive nights, but use site within their home range.[11] Sites that are between 11 and 15 m (36.1 and 49.2 ft) off the ground are preferred. Tamarins tend to start their activities earlier and cease later in warmer, wetter times of the years as the days are longer.[10] During drier times, tamarins forage for insects longer as they become more scarce.[10][11]
The golden lion tamarin has a diverse, omnivorous diet consisting of fruits, flowers, nectar, bird eggs, insects and small vertebrates. Microhabitats are important for foraging and other daily activities and tamarins will use bromeliads, palm crowns, palm leaf sheaths, woody crevices, lianas, vine tangles, tree bark, rotten logs, and leaf litters.[10][11] Tamarins use their fingers to catch prey hiding in crevices, under leaves, and in dense growth. It is made possible by elongated hands and fingers. Insects make up to 10-15% of their diet. Much of the rest is made of small, sweet, pulpy fruits.[10] During the rainy season, fruit makes up to 80% of the golden lion tamarin’s diet, however during drier times, it must supplant its diet with other foods like nectar and gums.[10] Small vertebrates are also consumed more at these times as insects become more scarce.
Golden lion tamarins live in groups that range from 2-11 members.[12] These groups usually consist of one adult male and female but may also have two or three males and one female or one male and two females.[12] Other members include subadults, juveniles and infants of both sexes who are usually offspring of the breeding individuals. When there is more than one breeding adult in a group, one is usually dominant over the other and this is maintained through aggressive behavior. The dominance relationship between males and females depend on how long an individual has been in the group. A newly immigrated male is subordinate to the resident adult female who inherited her rank from her mother.[13] Both males and females may leave their natal group at the age of four, however if a breeding female dies or disappears before the dispersal of the offspring, her daughter may inherit her position and the breeding male who is supposedly her father will leave.[14] Young males usually do not inherit their fathers’ rank and when dispersing from their natal groups, they enter single sex roaming groups until they find an opportunity to immigrate to a new group. 85% of immigrants to groups are males.[14] A male may find an opportunity to enter into a group when the resident male dies or disappears. A male may also eject resident males from this group aggressively, this is usually done by two immigrant males who are likely brothers. When this happens, only one of the new males will be the breeder and will suppress the other with dominance interactions.[15] A resident male may also leave a vacancy when his daughter becomes the breeding female and he must disperse to avoid inbreeding.[15] Golden lion tamarins are highly territorial and groups will defend their home range boundaries from other groups that may exploit their resources.[16]
The mating system of the golden lion tamarin is largely monogamous. When there are two adult males in a group only one of them will mate with the female. There are cases of a male mating with two females, usually a mother and daughter.[12] Tamarins are seasonal breeders with reproduction and parturition being timed with seasonal variation in rainfall.[17] Reproductive activity peaks at the end of the rainy season from late March to mid-June and most births occur during the rainy season between September and February.[17] Female tamarin reach sexual maturity at the age of 15–20 months but they do not reproduce until they are 30 months old.[18] The dominant female of a group will physiologically repress the reproductive capabilities of the other females and a female will not be able to reproduce until they reach dominant status.[19] Copulations can occur throughout ovulation. Gestation lasts around four months. Golden lion tamarin groups exhibit cooperative rearing of the infants. It is due to the fact that tamarins commonly give birth to twins and to a lesser extent, triplets and quadruplets. A mother is not able to provide for her litter and needs the help of the other members of the group.[20] The younger members of the groups may lose breeding opportunities but they gain parental experience in helping rear their younger siblings.[13] In their first 4 weeks, the infants are complete dependent on their mother for nursing and carrying. By week five, the infant spend less time on their mother’s back and begin to explore their surroundings. Young reach their juvenile stage at 17 weeks and will play with other group members. The subadult phase is reached at 14 months and a tamarin first exhibits adult behaviors.
Tamarins emit "whine" and "peep" calls for alarm and affiliations respectively.[21] "Clucks" are made during foraging trips or during aggressive encounters, whether mobbing conspecifics or predators.[18] "Trills" are used to communicate over long distances to give away an individaul’s position. "Rasps" or "screeches" are made during play. Tamarins also use chemical to communicate by making scent marks throughout their territories. Reproductive males and females do most of the scent marking and their non-reproductive counterparts rarely do so. Dominant males use scent marking to signify their social status and this behavior may suppress the reproductive abilities of the other males.
Threats to the golden lion tamarin population include illegal logging, poaching, mining, urbanization and infrastructure development and the introduction of alien species. This species was first listed as endangered in 1982, rising to critically endangered in 1996.[3] By 2003 the successful establishment of a new population at União Biological Reserve enabled downgrading the species to endangered,[22] but the IUCN warns that extreme habitat fragmentation from deforestation means the wild population has little potential for any further expansion.[3] In an attempt to curb the golden lion tamarin's precipitous decline, several conservation programmes have been undertaken. The intent is to strengthen the wild population and maintain a secure captive population in zoos worldwide. The survival rate of re-introduced animals has been encouraging, but destruction of unprotected habitat continues.