Description

This species is a small South American primate. It gets its name from the orange/red belly it has. It is also commonly known as the white-lipped tamarin due to the white hair it has around irs mouth and nose. The coat is a dark mantled colour on the back and tail.

Behaviour

These tamarins have cohesive, social family groups. They use sentinals to guard against predators. Chirping vocalizations are also used to announce locatation and alert the neighboring species of the presence of danger. They are daytime active. Their sleeping sites are generally 12-18 meters above the ground on branched trees.

Reproduction

In the wild, r eproduction of red-bellied tamarins peaks from October to December. In captivity they breed all-year-round but a newly established pair may take 2 years to settle down before they begin to breed. In general, only one dominant reproductive female is present within a group. This female excretes pheromones that suppress the ovulation of other females. The gestation period ranges from 140-150 days.

Diet

Red-bellied tamarins eat ripe fruit, insects, gum and nectar.

Conservation

This species it not yet categorised by the IUCN but needs to evaluated. There is a European Breeding Programme for this species.

.