Saddle-Back Tamarin

Saddle-Back Tamarin

The Saddle-back Tamarin is a small, common monkey, found throughout western Amazonia. Fast-moving and wary, they are hard find and/or photograph. Their name comes from the "saddle" of thickened hair around the upper back.

They feed on fruits, insects and flowers. The saddle-back tamarin supplements their diet with exudate, nectar, small vertebrates, and soil from arboreal termite mounds. They search for prey in leaf litter, and dip into tree holes, and crevices.
On average saddle-back tamarin groups are comprised of anywhere from 3–10 individuals, with 1–2 adults of each sex, and the rest being immature individuals of different ages.

Home-range size varies between 25–495 acres depending on the overall saddle-back tamarin population in that area. In areas where mixed species live, saddle-back tamarins form mixed-species troops with other tamarin species such as mustached tamarins, red-bellied tamarins, and emperor tamarins. East of the Rio Madeira, saddle-back tamarins have been observed in association with a marmoset species.

A flexible mating system allows for monogamy, and polygamy, depending on the make up of the particular group. Reproduction is moderately seasonal, usually one birth per year.

One bright note is that this species of tamarin is not on the endangered species list.

More in the next edition.