Marmosets live in groups of 3 to 15 individuals and they are all family members, a group consits of two breeding females, a wandering male from an outside family and their off spring. They feed on fruit and insects and the gum from the sap in a tree, some of these marmosets are specially designed to extract the gum from the trees. Most marmosets are about 8 inches long, there heads are rounded unlike other monkeys and their brains are relitively primitive. They are highly active and friendly to other species of their kind, leading to the study that they are not teritorial animals.

Marmoset monkeys are divided into five sub species The Tamar-ins, The Golden Tamar-ins, The Pygmy Marmoset, The True Marmoset and The Goeldi. There is a discussion about a new breed that was found in 1997 The Black Headed Dwarf Marmoset, they are studying this animal and trying to determine if they are in fact another sub species, judging by its behaviour, diet and size amongst other reasons. Most of these marmosets have been put on the endangered species list because of their habitat coming under threat from land expansion, illegal logging and other trades that operate in these areas. Most of these animals have been sold worldwide on the black market and to monkey breeders even on the Internet.

I typed in “breeds of monkeys” into my search engine and I was amazed at how many sites there was to purchase these animals. I thought to myself do monkeys want to live in houses, if they did wouldn’t they build houses for themselves, monkeys of any kind will tell you that they love the freedom of the trees, being able to travel miles using the tree tops I know I would. Would I want to entertain for a living if I was a monkey, yes for my monkey buddies I would, not for some profiteer to generate money off my smooth moves.Here are the different types of marmoset and a discription of them, and how they differ from one another. THE GOELDI and the TRUE MARMOSET are a combination of these three types. They are of average size and hold all the qualities of these three apart from the obvious…

The Golden Tamar-ins

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Golden tamarin marmosets

The Golden Lion Marmoset, they are gold in colour and have a mane the same as a lion, this is what gives them the name of The Golden Lion Marmoset. You will find these in low lying forest areas in Brazil and South America. All of the Golden TAMARIN marmosets are endangered and there are many different breeds of these, they all have the same habbits and characteristics as each other. I am just using the Golden Lion Marmoset as an example because I think they look pretty neat.

Description

The GOLDEN TAMARINS have a mane around their necks and long hair that conceals their ears, they are bald on the face and have long hands and feet. On these hands they have long claws on their four fingers and a flat nail on their thumbs. Their second, third and fourth digit are webbed together with a growth of skin, this enables them to hold onto food better, but also raises the question can they swim or did they swim in the past. They are considered omnivorous, they eat Insects, lizzards,, small birds and fruit. GOLDEN TAMARINS live in small groups under the canopy of the trees and they sleep in hollows of trees. They usually give birth to twins or a single infant and the both parents help in raising the young. They will carry the young on their backs for up to 12 weeks and teach them everything they know about survival in the jungle. They are mature at the age of 2 and only half of the infants will survive to see this age. The lucky ones will live to the age of 8 or 9 years.

The tamarins marmoset

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THE TAMARIN MARMOSET

These are smaller than the golden lion marmoset, they are about the same size as a squirrel and are highly active. There are many different types of these, just like there are in the Golden Marmoset family. I will take the Cottontop Marmoset as an example. They vary between colours of black and white and grey or brown. They are more common than the golden family but they are still on the endangered list.

Description

They are mostly black and white and have shorter feet than the others. They also share the webbed feet quality as the others, and rather than a mane they have a funky hair do instead. Some of these breeds will have a mustache or a beard. They grow to a length of just 30 centimeters, and are highly active even more so than the other sub species. They move a lot quicker and jump longer distances than any of their cousins. They share all they family qualities as the rest, and bring up their young together, but the difference with these is they live in bigger family groups. These groups consist of four different families and they mate between them, the new blood comes into the family by a wandering male from an outside family. These males stay with their family for the rest of their days.

The Pygmy Marmoset

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The Pygmy Marmoset

These are just young pygmy marmosets they are not actual size. These are the smallest monkey in the world, but are the most vocal of them all there voice has a wide range for warning their family members, but they dont just use their voice to communicate they can also use chemical and physical means of communicating. They can whistle or growl or making a clicking sound, depending on the danger level, all depends on the sound they make.

Description

I have mentioned their size and vocal range already but they grow to be 14-16 centimeters and their tail is at least 20 cenitmeters long, they weigh between 120g to 140g. They can support their body weight from the muscles in their tails. Their claws and foot structure are the same as the other marmosets and these live off fruit, insects and small reptiles but favour the sap from trees and leaves that grow on them. Their weight allows them to get to the leaves that the other marmosets can not reach or the fruit that would be too dangerous for any other marmoset would attempt.