Dwarf Marmoset

The Dwarf Marmoset (Callithrix (Callibella) humilis) is a small New World monkey native to the Amazon Rainforest, on the east bank of the lower Madeira River, and the west bank of the Aripuana River . It has the smallest distribution of any primate in the Amazon. This marmoset has several unique attributes which set it apart in its own subgenus, Callibella.

It was first described in 1998, after it was discovered close to the city of Manaus. Marc van Roosmalen, the discover, was given a milk can by a river trader with one of the monkeys inside. He suspected it was a new species; a relative of the Pygmy Marmoset.

The Dwarf Marmoset grows to around 5-6 inches tall, with a tail around 9 inches long. They have a distinctive black head, which led van Roosmalen to call it a Black-crowned Dwarf Marmoset before it was officially recognized as a new species. They have claws as opposed to nails, like other marmosets who feed off tree sap. They also have teeth similar to other marmosets.

They are considered unusual among marmosets in that they give birth to a single baby instead of twins, which is the norm for marmosets. Marmosets are often very territorial, though this is not the case among Dwarf Marmosets, where it is common for multiple females in a group to have young, instead of one dominant female.

References

• Rylands, Anthony [Ed.], Rodriguez-Luna, Ernesto [Ed.], Aguiar, John M. [Ed.] IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Neotropical Section 2003. Neotropical Primates 11(1). A Journal of the Neotropical Section of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group. Neotropical Primates 11(1): 75 pp.