The buffy-tufted marmoset (''Callithrix aurita''), also known as the buffy tufted-ear marmoset or white-eared marmoset, is a

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboi ...

that lives in the forests on the Atlantic coast of southeast

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Of all the

marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are twenty-two New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term ...

s, it has the southernmost range. The buffy-tufted marmoset resembles the

common marmoset The common marmoset (''Callithrix jacchus''), also called white-tufted marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset, is a New World monkey. It originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, in the states of Piauí, Paraíba, Ceará, Rio Grande d ...

, but is somewhat larger. It has grey-black skin, and the most obvious differences from the common marmoset are its whitish face ("skull-like facial mask",) brown crown, and shorter ear tufts. Buffy tufted marmoset 2

Distribution

The buffy-tufted marmoset is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil, occurring in ombrophilous and

semideciduous Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical woody s ...

forests in the Serras do Mar and Mantiqueira in the states of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, and extending to the North of Rio Doce in Minas Gerais. They forage and travel in the lower canopy and dense understorey vegetation, typically found between 6 and 9 meters above the ground. Alongside '' C. flaviceps'', they are the species inhabiting areas with the most extreme climatic conditions. It occurs in perennial, semideciduous, secondary, mixed montane forests, interspersed with stands of bamboo at altitudes ranging from 80 to 1200 meters.

Morphology

It has an overall black coloration, but they can also be found with reddish spots or speckled with red, without presenting a general pattern of stripes. Moreover, its reddish spots provide the characteristic golden hue that gave rise to the species' name "aurita". Its forehead is white, with the sides of the face being black, sometimes speckled with red. They have short (20 to 50 mm), white intra-auricular tufts that can vary to a brownish hue. The feet are brown, and the hands are a strongly weathered brown color. The tail is black with white rings. It is probably the largest species in the ''

Callithrix ''Callithrix'' is a genus of New World monkeys of the family Callitrichidae, the family containing marmosets and tamarins. The genus contains the Atlantic Forest marmosets. The name ''Callithrix'' is derived from the Greek words ''kallos'', ...

'' genus, weighing 400–450 g and with a body length of 19–25 cm and a tail length of 27–35 cm.

Ecology

It is diurnal and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, living almost all its life in the trees in groups that usually consist of 4 to 8 individuals, although it's possible to find groups of 11 individuals, with only one reproductive pair of male and female, with a dominant female. The offspring, always twins, are born after a gestation period of 144 days and are carried by the parents in the first weeks of life. Older siblings assist in caring for the offspring. When they reach adulthood, they migrate to other groups to form new pairs. Their activity period is reduced during hot-dry times. During the rainy season - 6:30-19:00 / dry season - 7:30-16:30. Their resting sites are associated with dense vegetation. They feed on resins and other plant secretions, as well as plant material itself, such as fruits and tree gum. During dry periods, they adapt their diet to include animal matter, such as

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

larvae,

orthopterans Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grasshopp ...

cockroaches Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

harvestmen The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids, Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered w ...

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...

, small

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

and

bird eggs Bird eggs are laid by the females and range in quantity from one (as in condors) to up to seventeen (the grey partridge). Clutch size may vary latitudinally within a species. Some birds lay eggs even when the eggs have not been fertilized; it is ...

. Studies also show that this species can feed on bamboo fungi. It can establish

sympatry In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

with other species like those of the genus ''

Cebus Gracile capuchin monkeys are capuchin monkeys in the genus ''Cebus''. At one time all capuchin monkeys were included within the genus ''Cebus''. In 2011, Jessica Lynch Alfaro ''et al.'' proposed splitting the genus between the robust capuchin ...

'' and ''

Callicebus ''Callicebus'' is a genus of monkeys known as titi monkeys. Historically, titis were monogeneric, comprising only the genus ''Callicebus'' Thomas, 1903. Owing to the great diversity found across titi monkey species, a new genus-level taxonomy wa ...

'', but there are no records of sympatry with other forms of ''

''.

Conservation

This species is present on the list of endangered species in the mentioned states where it occurs, as well as on the Brazilian and global lists. Its restricted distribution, habitat destruction, population decline, competition with other species, and hybridization due to the introduction of invasive

exotic species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

(''

Callithrix jacchus The common marmoset (''Callithrix jacchus''), also called white-tufted marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset, is a New World monkey. It originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, in the states of Piauí, Paraíba, Ceará, Rio Grande d ...

'' and '' C. penicillata'') are among the main threats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1150912

buffy-tufted marmoset The buffy-tufted marmoset (''Callithrix aurita''), also known as the buffy tufted-ear marmoset or white-eared marmoset, is a New World monkey that lives in the forests on the Atlantic coast of southeast Brazil. Of all the marmosets, it has the ...

Primates of Brazil Endemic mammals of Brazil Fauna of the Atlantic Forest Environment of Rio de Janeiro (state) Environment of São Paulo (state) Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of South America

Taxa named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire