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| Goeldi's Marmoset
Lower Risk (nt)
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| Callimico goeldii Thomas, 1904 |
Goeldi's Marmoset or Goeldi's Monkey (Callimico goeldii) is a small, South American monkey that lives in the upper Amazon Basin region of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is the only species classified in the genus Callimico, and the monkeys are sometimes referred to as "callimocos".
Goeldi's monkeys are blackish or blackish-brown in color. Their bodies are around 8 to 9 inches long (about 22 cm), and their tails are 10-12 inches long (25-30 cm).
Goeldi's monkey was first described in 1904, making it one of the last monkey genera to be described. In older classification schemes it was sometimes placed in its own family Callimiconidae and sometimes in the (now abandoned) family Callitrichidae, the family containing marmosetSee text The Marmosets are the genus Callithrix of New World monkeys. One species not classified in this genus also has common names including the word "marmoset", the Goeldi's Marmoset Callimico goeldii . This article deals only with the 18 species curres and tamarin s. More recently, it has been classified into Cebidae, which now contains all the marmosets and tamarins, as well as the capuchins and squirrel monkeys.
Females reach sexual maturity at 8.5 months, males at 16.5 months. The gestation period lasts from 140 to 180 days. Unlike other New World monkeys, they have the capacity to give birth twice a year. The mother carries a single baby monkey per pregnancy, whereas most other species in the family Cebidae usually give birth to twins. The infant is weaned after about 65 days. The life expectancy in captivity is about 10 years.
Goeldi's monkeys prefer to forage in dense scrubby undergrowth; perhaps because of this, they are rare, with groups living in separate patches of suitable habitat, separated by miles of unsuitable flora. In the wet season, their diet includes fruit, insects, spiders, lizards, frogs, and snakes. In the dry season, they feed on fungi, the only tropical primates known to depend on this source of food. They live in small social groups (approximately six individuals) that stay within a few feet of one another most of the time, staying in contact via high-pitched calls.
The species takes its name from its discoverer, the SwissThe Swiss Confederation or Switzerland is a landlocked federal state in central Europe, with neighbours Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international c naturalist Emil August Goeldi .