Marmosets & Tamarins

SNPRC is the home to a colony of common marmosets (Callithix jacchus). Marmosets and tamarins are small, South American primates. They share a number of features unusual for primates, including small size (weighing 170-700 grams), routine production of twins which are hemopoietic chimeras, suppressed ovulation in many adult females, and having claws instead of nails. In the wild, marmosets and tamarins live in groups ranging from 5 to 15 individuals, and occupy territories that they defend from other groups. They feed on fruit, insects and tree sap or gum. There is usually only one reproductive female in a group, with the other females being inhibited from reproducing.

Marmoset & Tamarin Image Gallery