Cottontop Tamarin - Physical Characteristics

Physical Characteristics

Tamarins are among the smallest of primates, and the cotton-top tamarin is about the size of a squirrel. A medium-sized adult cotton-top tamarin weighs 432 g The head–body length of this species is 17 cm. The species has a non-prehensile tail that is slightly longer than its body. Cotton-tops also have forelimbs that are shorter than their hind limbs. Males of the species are only slightly larger than females. Like other members of the Callithrix family, the species has claws on most fingers and toes. However, only the big toe has flat nails that most other primates have.

This tamarin species has a long sagittal crest, consisting of white hairs from forehead to nape flowing over the shoulders ("Cotton-top"). The skin of the face is black with gray or white bands located above the eyes. These bands continue along the edge of the face down to the jaw.

The back is brown, and the underparts, arms and legs are whitish-yellow. The rump and inner thighs and upper tail are reddish-orange. It is considered one of the few bare-faced tamarins because of the lack of facial hair. Its lower canine teeth are longer than its incisors, creating the appearance of tusks.

The cotton-top tamarin has fur covering all external surfaces of the body except the palms of the hands and feet, the eyelids, the borders of the nostrils, the nipples, the anus and the penis. The fur is distributed with varying densities throughout the body: the genital region (scrotum and pubic zone), axilla and the base of the tail have lower densities, while the foreword region is very high. Many have stripes or whorls of fur of striking coloration in the gular region. Cotton-tops also have supraorbital and mystacial vibrissae, or whiskers.