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Red-handed tamarin

Saguinus midas

Description: Red-handed tamarins are glossy black except for golden-red hands and feet.

Size: Red-handed tamarins are 17-20 inches (43- 51 cm) long and weigh 21 ounces (595 gr), with males being larger than females.

Behavior: Red-handed tamarins live in family groups between 2-12 with five being average. The breeding female dominates the group. Like all tamarins, the father carries the babies the majority of the time with older siblings helping. The mother only carries the babies to nurse them.

Diet: They eat fruit seeds and insects.

Senses: Sight is their primary sense but they also have a well-developed sense of smell.

Communication: Red-handed tamarins communicate through a series of vocalizations. They will also scent mark during threat displays and breeding. Their array of facial expressions is not as varied as that of higher primates.

Reproduction: Twins are usually born in the spring or summer after a gestation period that lasts from 140-168 days. Young are weaned in approximately nine weeks; sexual maturity occurs at 20 months.

Habitat/range: Their range includes Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname where they are found in open canopies of primary and secondary rainforests.

Status: IUCN Least Concern (LC); CITES Appendix II

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Primates
Family:Callitrichidae
Genus:Saguinus
Species:midas