Golden-headed lion tamarin

The golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) is a lion tamarin endemic to Brazil. It is found only in lowland and premontane tropical forest fragments in the state of Bahia and is considered endangered. Its preferred habitat is mature forest, although habitat destruction means it does not always live there. Both males and females invest energy in caring for the young, and all members of a group help with the juveniles. For its small body size it defends a large home range, from 40 to 320 hectares in a study at Una Biological Reserve. Its diet is very wide and includes plants, fruit, flowers, nectar, insects, insect larvae, spiders, snails, frogs, lizards, bird eggs and small snakes. It searches for animal prey in epiphytic bromeliads and only rarely eats gum, since fruit is available year-round in its forest.