Reproduction

How does the Goeldi's Monkey produce its young?

Mating takes place during the wet season from September to November.

Females give birth to a single offspring. Most females only produce once per year but some have two litters. At birth they weigh 45-66g (1.6-2.3oz).

All members of the group will help with carrying the young after the first 10 or so days. They carry the young but return it to the mother to feed.

Maturity is reached before two years old with females maturing before males. Young remain in their groups to help raise the next littler learning essential skills to raise their own young.

Behavior

What does the Goeldi's Monkey do with its day?

Goeldi's monkey will live in a group with up to 12 members. These may include more than one female who breeds unlike most other species of callitrichids.

At night the group will rest together. They nest in dense undergrowth or within a tree hollow.

To strengthen the social ties within the group they will groom one another.

These animals are arboreal and spend much of their time in the trees. They are strong leapers to help them move between trees. In a single leap they cover distances of up to 4m (13ft).

Goeldi's monkey is active during the day. Groups will move together feeding but take regular breaks to sunbathe and groom one another. They may form mixed groups with other tamarin species such as the saddleback and moustached tamarins.

They will communicate through vocalizations, scent marking and their body language. Their long distance calls may travel for up to 100m (328ft).

Credit: Malene Thyssen (User Malene), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Predators and Threats

What is impacting the survival of the Goeldi's Monkey?

Natureal predators of the goeldi's monkey include bush dogs, coatis, tayra, cats such as the puma, snakes and birds of prey.

The population of the goeldi's monkey is believed to be decreasing in population. They are considered rare across most of their range and have a patchy distribution.

Threats faced by the goeldi's monkey include deforestation across much of their range for illegal crops and timber extraction. The building of highways through their habitat both removes habitat and can fragment populations.

They are often seen in markets for sale as both food and pets.

Quick facts

The goeldi's monkey is also known as goeldi's marmoset or the callimicos.

Their name comes from the Swiss zoologist, Emil August Goeldi a professor working in South America.

These animals differ from similar species in their family as they have wisdom teeth. They are the only small new world monkey to have 36 teeth with all other marmosets and tamarins having 32.