Wooohooo!! Another week of Wild Facts. I know all of you wish that the weekend would just hurry up and get out of the way so you can start reading these interesting animal facts again. Pesky weekends! Today we are going to look at the Cotton-Top Tamarin and they personally remind of a Gremlin. Does anyone else see this resemblance? You may remember we discussed a similar animal called the Emperor Tamarin, the one with the big mustache. Like their cousin the Cotton-Top Tamarin is also a small monkey found in the beautiful forests of South America.
The Cotton-Top is only about 18-30 cm (7-12″) long and is different than most monkey’s since they don’t have an opposable thumb or a prehensile tail. Don’t worry since this doesn’t make them any less of a monkey although I am sure they get teased by all of the other monkey’s during recess. This particular tamarin species has claws on all of their fingers and toes except for the big toe, which has the customary flat nail. I would guess that the claws help this little monkey hang out in the trees with the rest of their friends.
If you want to get a glimpse of these little guys then you are in luck since they are diurnal animals which simply means they are most active during the day. It is in the bright daylight hours that they will be on the hunt for both plants and animals to consume. Among their favourites are fruit, insects and lush green plants. They will also throw in the odd rodent or the eggs of an unsuspecting reptile, and to conquer that sweet tooth they will feast on tree sap. Once the sun sets the Cotton-Top Tamarin will retreat to the tree tops for some much needed rest.
These little “Gremlins” can be a noisy bunch and have about 38 distinct sounds which express joy, curiosity, fear, warnings, playfulness and other important behavioural sounds. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised to hear that this monkey is a complex animal. After all, we do have common ancestors, right? Judging by the hair I am pretty certain that the famous boxing promoter, Don King is directly related to the Cotton-Top Tamarin. I bet the scientist from Back to the Future is also closely related.
Cotton-Top Tamarin Fast Fact – This beautiful little creature is considered to be critically endangered with a population somewhere around 6000 individuals. This is no surprise since they have lost about 75% of their habitat due to deforestation. I am still holding out that someday we will realize that everything on this earth is connected and we are only hurting ourselves by decimating animal populations.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. I have this crazy urge to go and watch Gremlins now. I wonder what happens if you feed a Cotton-Top Tamarin after midnight?
