Sunday, July 19, 2009

Meet the Red-handed Tamarin!

Is it a bat? A tiny gremlin? It's so tiny, it can't be a monkey! 

Wanna bet? Meet Saguinus midas, one of my favorite animal charges. These tiny primates are natives of the Amazonian forests where they live in groups of four to 14 members. Highly territorial and ferocious despite their small size, they will rush to the defense of any threatened group member. Like hummingbirds and chihuahuas, they seem to think they are much bigger than they really are. Just how little are they? Less than a foot long, and most of that's tail! A really hefty female might weigh a smidgen over a pound. Still, they're known to jump distances of over 60 feet!

Their name of course derives from their colorful feet, which are red on our tamarins only if you really squint. They are also called, perhaps more aptly, Midas tamarins. 

Only one female in each group will breed, but the father does most of the work after the (usually twin) babies are born. Other group members also help care for the young. 

In the wild, they eat fruit, flowers, lizards, bugs, nectar, and assorted creepy-crawlies. In captivity, ours get a special tamarin diet supplemented by fruits, vegetables, mealworms, and crickets.  Oh, and belly rubs from their caretakers. That is something that is never found in the wild, except perhaps from other tamarins.

Unfortunately, the wild that these guys inhabit is disappearing. No Amazonian forest means no red-handed tamarins. Hopefully if we all work together there will be forest enough left for our great-grandchildren to catch sight of tiny gremlins in the wild.

14 comments:

  1. Amazing! They are so funny looking!

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  3. WOW! I want one!!! (kidding) but omg, it's so adorable!!!

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  4. I know! Lots of people think they look like evil little bats, but I think they are cuter than cute!

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  5. Hey, good point about the one possible reasonable use of endnotes :) I don't even mind aesthetically having long footnotes, but I suppose if it gets to be several pages long. . . . Yeah, an appendix could do the trick. Did you ever read Tristram Shandy? (No, the movie can't compare.) I didn't finish it, but when is the last time you saw a footnote that was hysterical just because it was there? Crazy. What genius.

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  6. I hope you'll keep posting more about your animals. I adore tamarins. Sorry to say, I don't even LIKE most "real" monkeys. I should learn to get over it! But someday I will. I'm still evolving :)

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  7. Lol, tapir! If I can ever get my photos in order I'm going to do a post about our hyacinth macaw. Tristram Shandy is on my reading list, but I haven't gotten there yet. Soon I hope, if life ever slows down for a second! And don't worry, I'm still "evolving" too ;)

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  8. Great photos, I have a chihuahua and I know what you mean about thinking they are bigger than they really are. Great read.

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  9. These guys are adorable!
    Our sweet pup, a little Papillon, was always a much bigger dog in his own mind. Sadly, he’s gone now, but we shared many happy years filled with funny experiences

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  10. yay, you DO have zookeeper stuff! so cute!!!

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