The tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus Saguinus. They are the first offshoot in the Callitrichidae tree, and therefore are the sister group of a clade formed by the lion tamarins, Goeldi's monkeys and marmosets.

Taxonomy and evolutionary history

Hershkovitz (1977) recognised ten species in the genus Saguinus, further divided into 33 morphotypes based on facial pelage. A later classification into two clades was based on variations in dental measurements. A taxonomic review (Rylands et al., 2016) showed the tamarins are a sister group to all other callitrichids, branching off 15–13 million years ago. Within this clade, six species groups are historically recognised, nigricollis, mystax, midas, inustus, bicolor and oedipus, five of which were shown to be valid with Saguinus inustus placed within the midas group. The review noted that the smaller-bodied nigricollis group began diverging 11–8 million years ago, leading the authors to move them to a separate genus, Leontocebus (saddle-back tamarins). While a 2018 study proposed that Leontocebus does not have sufficient divergence from Saguinus to be in its own genus, and thus should be reclassified it as a subgenus of Saguinus, this proposal has since found significant traction. The same study found the mystax group of tamarins to be distinct enough to be classified in the subgenus Tamarinus.

Taxonomic classification

Following the taxonomic review of tamarins by Rylands et al. (2016) and Garbino & Martins-Junior (2018), there are 22 species in the genus Saguinus with 19 subspecies.

  • Genus Saguinus
  • Subgenus Saguinus <small>Hoffmannsegg, 1807</small>
  • S. midas group
  • Golden-handed tamarin, midas tamarin, or red-handed tamarin, Saguinus midas
  • Western black-handed tamarin or black tamarin, Saguinus niger
  • Eastern black-handed tamarin, Saguinus ursulus
  • S. bicolor group
  • Pied tamarin, Saguinus bicolor
  • Martins's tamarin, Saguinus martinsi
  • Martins's bare-face tamarin, Saguinus martinsi martinsi
  • Ochraceus bare-face tamarin, Saguinus martinsi ochraceus
  • S. oedipus group
  • Cotton-top tamarin or Pinché tamarin, Saguinus oedipus
  • Geoffroy's tamarin, Saguinus geoffroyi
  • White-footed tamarin, Saguinus leucopus
  • Subgenus Tamarinus <small>Trouessart, 1904</small>
  • Moustached tamarin, Saguinus mystax
  • Spix's moustached tamarin, Saguinus mystax mystax
  • Red-capped tamarin, Saguinus mystax pileatus
  • White-rump moustached tamarin, Saguinus mystax pluto
  • White-lipped tamarin, Saguinus labiatus
  • Geoffroy's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus labiatus
  • Thomas's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus thomasi
  • Gray's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus rufiventer
  • Emperor tamarin, Saguinus imperator
  • Black-chinned emperor tamarin, Saguinus imperator imperator
  • Bearded emperor tamarin, Saguinus imperator subgrisescens
  • Mottle-faced tamarin, Saguinus inustus

Description

Tamarin species vary considerably in appearance, ranging from nearly all black through mixtures of black, brown and white. Mustache-like facial hairs are typical for many species. Their body size ranges from (plus a tail). They weigh from . In captivity, red-bellied tamarins have been recorded living up to 20.5 years, while cotton-top tamarins can live up to 23 years old.

Distribution

Tamarins are found from southern Central America through to central South America, where they are found in northwestern Colombia, the Amazon basin, and the Guianas.

In some locations, saddle-back tamarins (subgenus Leontocebus) live sympatrically with tamarins of the subgenus Saguinus, but the saddle-back tamarins typically occupy lower strata of the forest than do the Saguinus species.

References

  • Primate Info Net Saguinus Factsheets