Pygmy Marmoset (Callithrix pygmaea)

• Type: Mammal
• Family: Cebidae
• Habitat: Tropical rainforest, preferably seasonally flooded riverine forests
• Location: Western Amazonia; Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia
• Diet: Tree sap, gums, insects, and fruits
• Average lifespan in the wild: 12 years
• Size: Head and body 4.7-6 in (12-15.2 cm); tail 6.8-9 in (17.2-22.9 cm)
• Weight: 4.20 oz (119 g)

Even though they are the smallest of all the monkeys, pygmy marmosets can leap more than 16 feet. At only 5.35 inches and 4.2 ounces on average, they expertly maneuver through the canopy, scampering vertically up trees using their sharp claw-like fingernails. All other primates have flat fingernails, but pygmy marmosets’ specialized claws are much better for gripping limbs while feeding on tree sap. The diet of pygmy marmosets is largely comprised of tree exudates – the sap, gum, resin or latex that oozes out of plants. The incisors, which are narrow and elongated, help these tiny animals gnaw holes in tree trunks to release sap. Insects and fruit supplement their diet.

Pygmy marmosets live in social groups of two to nine individuals. The dominant female is the only female in the group to mate. Every member in the group aids in the care of offspring. For the first two weeks of their lives, babies are always carried. After that time, they are left in a hole or hidden tangle of vines while the adults forage for food. As the offspring grow, they spend a great deal of their time playing in the trees. When they reach adulthood, they either remain in their natal group as a non-breeding subordinate or venture out to join a new group.

Pygmy marmosets have a v-shaped lower jawbone, and thus a pointed face. Their tales are very long compared to their bodies, measuring about eight inches and banded with faint black and tan rings. The length of their head and body combined is always shorter than the length of their tail. Their fur is a brownish yellow, and dense tufts of hair sweep back from the forehead.

Did you know: Pygmy marmosets give birth to fraternal twins at an unusually high rate — while most primates give birth to only one offspring at a time, up to 70 percent of pygmy marmosets’ births are to fraternal twins.

Photo by Malene Thyssen

Can the secrets of our past be found in the jungle? And what can it tell us about our future?

Accompany researchers in NATURE’s Deep Jungle: The Beast Within as they explore tropical forests for clues about the origins of humans and what our own future might hold.

In a bid to understand the genesis of human aggression, primatologist David Watts travels to Uganda’s Kibale National Park to study chimpanzees. In the past, researchers had witnessed these primates hunting, killing, and eating colobus monkeys. Watts, however, made a chilling new discovery that these primates also hunted and murdered their own kind. The theory under investigation is that violence may help chimp groups cement social ties.

In Brazil, clever capuchin monkeys use heavy rocks to crack open nuts for food. “Deep Jungle: The Beast Within” marks the first time the behavior has been captured on film. Tool use, which was previously thought to be a skill only of primates — humans and chimps — reminds us that human abilities arose long before the evolution of our species.

In Central America and Cambodia, archaeologists ponder the ruined remains of ancient cities that once flourished in the jungle. What might have happened to these lost civilizations? And can modern cities avoid the fate that befell those that came before?

In the Central African Republic, primatologist Chloe Cipolletta enlists the help of the BaAka people in her effort to preserve the jungle’s future. The BaAka have lived in the forest for generations, and are experts at tracking the elusive western lowland gorilla. Together, Chloe and the BaAka are gaining the gorilla’s trust and in return, the BaAka are learning to see the gorillas as more than a threat.

To order a copy of Deep Jungle, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Deep Jungle was originally posted in May 2005.

The Brazil Nut Industry — Past, Present, and Future
http://www.nybg.org/bsci/braznut/BrazilNut.html
Learn everything about the Brazil nut tree, from its phenology to its natural history.

Stranglers and Banyans: Amazing Figs of the Tropical Rain Forest
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct99.htm
Get a sense of the amazing and bizarre behaviors of the wild fig trees that grow in the jungle.

BBC Radio: Adventures of the Spider Man
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/spiderman.shtml
Listen to Martin Nicholas as he discusses his passion for spiders, preparations for his trip to Peru to find the chicken-eating spider, and finally, his successful sighting of the infamous tarantula.

Ask the Scientists: Bee Lines
http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/bio/
81_jniehanddroubik_bio.html
Bee experts David Roubik and James Nieh discuss their research on bees and bee communication.

Amazonia
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Amazonia/glimpes.cfm
Learn more about the Amazon’s unique animals and plants. Take a virtual tour of the National Zoo’s Amazon exhibit, where visitors can view more than 350 species of plants and dozens of species of mammals, birds, insects, and more.

Passport to the Rainforest
http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/intro.html
Explore the world’s largest rainforest through articles, video clips, and hands-on activities.

Monitoring the Brazilian Amazonian Forest
http://www.grid.inpe.br/
Satellite images show the yearly increments of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from 2000 to 2001.

PBS: Journey Into Amazonia
http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazonia/
JOURNEY INTO AMAZONIA features the swollen rivers, flooded forests, and dense canopy of the vast rainforest recognized as one of Earth’s natural wonders.

RELATED NATURE EPISODES

Deep Jungle: New Frontiers
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/deepjungle/ep1/
Part I of the Deep Jungle miniseries.

Deep Jungle: The Beast Within
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/deepjungle/ep3/
Part III of the Deep Jungle miniseries.

BOOKS

Pearce, Fred. DEEP JUNGLE. Cornwall, England: Eden Project Books, 2005.

Goulding, Michael. THE SMITHSONIAN ATLAS OF THE AMAZON. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2003.

—. AMAZON: THE FLOODED FOREST. New York: Sterling, 1990.

Raffles, Hugh. IN AMAZONIA: A NATURAL HISTORY. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

Smith, Nigel, et al. THE AMAZON RIVER FOREST: A NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND PEOPLE. Cambridge, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Weil, Andrew. THE LOST AMAZON: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY OF RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES. New York: Chronicle Books, 2004.

Some are big, some are small. They wear feathered coats of amazing colors, or drab plumage that wouldn’t turn a head. Some are loud and raucous, others remarkably mellow. They are the world’s macaws — long tailed parrots that are both greatly beloved — and terribly endangered. And, for the most part, poorly understood.

Macaws are the world’s largest parrots. There are 17 different kinds, ranging in size from the magnificent cobalt-blue hyacinth, which can weigh in at 3 pounds, to the petite Hahns, which might weigh just a tenth as much. Whatever their size, however, macaws are marked by long, graceful tails that can be longer than their bodies. And, in general, larger macaws are more brightly colored than their smaller cousins.

Macaws can be found throughout Central and South America, from wet tropical rainforests to dry scrub lands. But many species prefer to be near rivers or streams; indeed, some of the most famous macaw-watching spots are muddy banks, where macaws apparently gather to harvest minerals and salt from the soil.

For heftier meals, macaws tackle everything from fruit and nectar to seeds and nuts. Often, they will forage over vast distances to find trees flush with ripe pickings. And they can be choosy about nesting sites, taking time to find just the right cavity in a tree or bank.

Scientists, however, know remarkably little about macaw family life. Some believe they mate for life, and produce just a few young a year. Some may live for 60 years or more.

Increasingly, however, they aren’t getting the chance. Habitat loss and hunting are taking a terrible toll. While a few of the 17 macaw species are still abundant, more than half a dozen are considered critically threatened or endangered. There are believed to be less than 3,000 hyacinth macaws in the wild, for instance, and less than 1,000 red-fronted and blue-throated macaws. Just a single Spix’s macaw may still be in the wild. The glaucus macaw is probably already extinct.

Conservationists are racing the clock to prevent that fate from overtaking other macaws. They are monitoring populations and weighing chicks — often working high in dangerous treetops. Others are recording habits and behavior, looking for clues to designing better protection strategies or reserves. Its often exacting, but necessary, work. “Unless we understand their wild biology,” says macaw expert Charles Munn, who is featured in NATURE’s The Real Macaw “we may not be able to avoid the extinction of species after species of these spectacular New World parrots.”

Walton filmed in Gabon over the course of an entire year, staying in huts or houses, sometimes camping out. “We spent a lot of time going into the forest to find the mandrills,” he says. The troop featured in the film numbers about 80 animals, but Walton also wanted to capture on film the larger troops, which can number as many as 700 animals. “We saw them very briefly, but were never able to film them,” he regrets.

Still, it was all well worth the trouble, says Walton. “Getting that close to a primate that is so secretive and so difficult to film is one of the most amazing experiences, despite the difficulties. At the end of the day, when you’ve filmed these extraordinary creatures, it gives you a sense of wonder about just how many secrets there are out there in the forests and remote areas that we never even think of.

“It really touches you deep down in your soul. You feel that you’ve entered a world that is special. It might sound a bit corny, but it is absolutely true that you feel you have been privileged to see that world. And you do wonder whether something like that will stay the way you’ve seen it. You hope that we as humans will be able to safeguard it in the end. You feel a great responsibility for that.”