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Emperor Tamarin

Tamarin_portrait

 

All hail Emperor Tamarin! Just kidding. Emperor Tamarins are actually miniature primates primarily named so because of the close resemblance its long, white moustache has with that of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Such a distinctive moustache also forms the basis of identification of the two Emperor Tamarin’s subspecies, the Bearded Emperor Tamarin and the Black-Chinned Emperor Tamarin – all of which have plenty of facial hair. The moustache doesn’t seem to bother them though. Both the males and the female species both possess that charismatic characteristic. In fact, it’s often very difficult to tell apart a female and a male due to their nearly identical appearances. All of them, though, have fine and silky coats. The color grey predominates mostly on their midsections while they have a brownish to black color on the top of their heads, and a dull gold or reddish-orange tail. If you happen to come across one of these magnificent animals, you probably wouldn’t know if it was female or male but you could theoretically tell what sort of age it is. How? Well, compare their body and moustache size. The smaller those two characteristics are, the younger they are.

Baby Tamarin

But if you do come across an Emperor Tamarin, you probably shouldn’t expect it to stay quiet. According to ARKIVE, the Emperor will most likely start to hiss, trill, or make long and chirping calls. At that point, it either wants to express dominance to you or it is shouting out to the rest of its group that there’s a human in front of it. If the rest of the group arrives though, expect about 4 to 20 other Emperors. Power emanates from their group with all that royalty. In each group, there will be only one pair of breeders and the majority of the other members will be the following generations of offspring and other unrelated migratory adults. When mating though, Emperor Tamarins exhibit a polyandrous mating routine in which one dominant female mates with several other males, and will attempt to suppress the other female Tamarins’ reproductive abilities. If you would like to stay with a group of Emperor Tamarins for a while, expect their population of young Tamarins to multiply rapidly. An average Emperor Tamarin gestation period is about 140 to 145 days, and once that time is reached they will always give birth to twins. Neat huh? Baby Emperor Tamarins will be approximately 25% of the adult size, but will quickly reach their own adult status within 2 years.

Emperor Tamarin

Now I know you’re probably wishing you could find some Emperor Tamarins for yourself. Well, I’ll tell you where they live. Most of them can be found in the south-western Amazon region. Within that area, they will predominantly be hiding up in the tree canopies of lowland tropical rain forests usually located near sea basins. But if you do visit their area, make sure to be careful. Right now, they are under the threat of deforestation in their area and may be an endangered species if people also keep hunting them to trade as pets. Also, one more thing. Don’t worry too much if you do see one. They really only eat fruits, flowers, nectar, snails, and insects. So, unless you are one of those listed then you will be fine. Such royal species should be appreciated!

Emp Tamarin

 

Some information used from:

http://www.arkive.org/emperor-tamarin/saguinus-imperator/image-G71233.html

3 Responses

  1. I’ve never seen this monkey before, and I totally agree with Margaret. It looks like it came right of Doctor Seuss. That’s so sad people take them to trade when they are endangered and I hope they can be helped. This was interesting and I really like the idea of your blog!

  2. This monkey reminds me of something out of Doctor Seuss. I think it’s really cool to know that animals that look like that actually exist! One thing I’m wondering about though, is there any way to help prevent these animals from becoming extinct?

  3. What a sick mustache
    This is an awesome blog post
    What funny monkeys

    Interesting as usual. Weird animals are definitely a joy to read about. Keep em coming.

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