Wee Tam
Red Bellied Tamarin (Saguinus labiatus)
About me
| Basic Info | Home: | Alright there troops! Cheeky Wee Tam here, reporting from my native home in the heart of The Amazon, I'm in Brazil just now but I'm a big fan of Bolivia as well. |
|---|---|---|
| Size: | Wee Tam's just a wee thing, think I'm 30cm on a good day, when I'm not slouching. My tail's pretty big though, about 40cm – very useful for all that tree swinging and impressing the ladies with my balancing acts.... | |
| Favourite foods: | Yummy gummy! Although, Wee Tam's wee teeth can't get that lovely gum out of trees, so we need to wait until it comes out by other means. In the meantime I'm more than happy to gnaw on some nectar, fruit or a cheeky wee insect. | |
| Environment: | We all hang out in the forest, preferably near a lovely swamp for mucking around in. | |
| Sounds like: | aaaaaAAAAHHH! aaaaaAAAAHHH! |
| Further Info |
This monkey lives in social groups ranging from 2-4 unrelated individuals. Only one female breeds, suppressing the ovulation of other females in the group through pheromone excretion. Offspring come in pairs (twins) and are looked after by all members of the group, which includes the males. A captive red-bellied tamarin was once noted to live to age 20. A troop of red-bellied tamarins and saddle-back tamarins have been known to mob a tayra (a predator similar to a weasel or marten) together successfully! Additionally, these monkeys retire before dusk and carefully select their sleeping sites on branches 12-18m above ground to help avoid predation. They also use sentinels to guard against predators. Red-bellied tamarins do not have opposable thumbs, with the nails of the digits being claw-like except on the first digit of each toe. The tail is not prehensile (can be used as a fifth limb, as seen in the kinkajou at Amazonia), just like the other monkeys at Amazonia. It can leap between branches in the forest, and moves quadrupedally. |
|---|---|
| Useful links |