Black-tufted marmoset

The black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) is a small New World monkey that lives mainly in the gallery forests of the Brazilian Central Plateau. Its range runs from Bahia south to Paraná and inland as far as Goiás, and the animal has also become a familiar sight in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where it was introduced. It is named for the black tufts of hair around its ears. The body is gray above and below, the rump is darker, and the tail is ringed in black and white and serves for balance rather than gripping. Adults measure about 19 to 22 centimetres and weigh up to 350 grams. The species is diurnal and arboreal, living in family groups of two to fourteen that usually consist of a breeding pair and their young, with males and older juveniles helping to rear the infants. Tree sap, gouged from bark with the long lower incisors, is its main food, supplemented with fruit, insects and, in drought, small vertebrates.