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Saguinus oedipus
Cotton-top tamarins are an endangered species of primate found only in the tropical forests of Colombia. It Weight about 1 pound. The wild population is estimated at about 6000, with 2000 adults. This species is Critically Endangered, having lost more than three-quarters of it's original habitat to deforestation. They recently featured in “The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2008-2010” (http://www.primate-sg.org/PC24.htm)
It is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests.
Do you know why this little guy has brown marks in his hair?
Spotted on Jul 7, 2010
Submitted on Mar 11, 2011
20 Comments
What a spectacular spot and so sad to know that it is Critically Endangered !
Congratulations Carolina, we have featured this great spotting in the Project Noah blog today to highlight the plight of endangered species - http://blog.projectnoah.org/post/2955545...
:D
Beautiful! Happy Cotton-top Tamarin day!
Lovely!
Excellent capture!!!
Thank you! Once again the Cotton-top tamarins appreciated it :)
Carolina, your photo was selected to represent the new Primate mission!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/6566...
I've added this spotting as the first inaugural submission to the mission :)
You can read why he has brown marks in the comments!
Such strange colors! This is a stunning picture, as always. It's always a shame to hear about another species disappearing...
The Cotton-top tamarins appreciated it, Peter!
Spotting of the day!
http://facebook.com/projectnoah/posts/20...
http://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/63...
Thank you Vanessa!
The fact that it is critically endangered just makes this photo so much more special. Beautiful colouring!
Sorry! I must correct something here: The census was made with a vocalization method, a new technique to study primate population, and the marks are used to identify each individual and observe the behavior of them with their group and the population.
Excellent Sharing. Appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing, very precious animal and knowledge!
Thanks for the update. It really added value here. Such precious knowledge share, its like fresh water in the desert. Had no idea. The only sad thing is to realize that another species is Critically Endangered. Hope we get there on time. Thanks again.
Hi! Some people think they are brown for all what you said, but the truth is they had to be marked for a census Proyecto Titi conducted in 2005-2006 examining the status of the wild population of cotton-top tamarins. The results of the census indicated that the cotton-top tamarin has been severly impacted by the significant habitat destruction that has occurred thoughout its range in Colombia. The results of the census in addition to the challenges with habitat destruction, resulted in the IUCN Primate Specialist Group recommending the classification of cotton-top tamarins be changed to Critically Endangered in 2008.
*Proyecto Titi is a conservation program helping our cotton-top tamarins in partnership with Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Its a wonderful capture. Primates are one of my favorite subjects for photography. I've never seen these fellows with brown marks. Can it be a sub-species? Or maybe just old age? Mating season dress-up? I thing I'll try to find out more. Thanks for sharing. Its beautiful.