Roosmalens' Dwarf Marmoset
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| iDwarf Marmoset<ref name=MSW3>Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 131. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.</ref> | ||||||||||||||||
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Image:Status iucn3.1 LC.svg
Least Concern (LC)<ref name=IUCN>Rylands, A.B., Bampi, M.I., Chiarello, A.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B., Mendes, S.L. & Marcelino, M. (2003). Mico humilis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.</ref> </div> | ||||||||||||||||
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| Callithrix (Callibella) humilis van Roosmalen et al, 1998 |
Roosmalens' Dwarf Marmoset (Callithrix (Callibella) humilis), also known as the Black-crowned Dwarf Marmoset, 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 Amazonia. 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.
Roosmalens' Dwarf Marmoset grows to around 5-6 inches tall, with a tail around 9 inches long. It has 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. It has claws as opposed to nails, like other marmosets who feed off tree sap. It also has teeth similar to other marmosets.
It is considered unusual among marmosets in that it gives birth to only a single baby instead of twins, the norm for marmosets. Marmosets are often very territorial, though this is not the case among Roosmalens' Dwarf Marmoset, where it is common for multiple females in a group to have young, instead of one dominant female.
[edit] References
<references/>
- (April 2003) "The description of a new marmoset genus, Callibella (Callitrichinae, Primates), including its phylogenetic status". Neotropical Primates 11 (1): 1-10.
- (April 2003) "On the morphological distinctiveness of Callithrix humilis van Roosmalen, et al., 1998". Neotropical Primates 11 (1): 11-18.
