What is your favourite New world primate species ?

I worked with them for a few months, and was very taken with their ‘attitude’, strong family loyalties and the assertiveness of a gorilla.

 

Was this at Jersey zoo ?

Yes, they certainly can have outsized attitudes for such pint sized primates.

I love how strange they look (like little orcs or gargoyles) and also for similar reasons as those you describe like the centrality of their family groups / partners in their lives, their shyness and of course because they are critically endangered and are in need of all the fans they can get.

The way they use their tongues in communicating to one another is quite a funny / endearing characteristic too.

 

That not the whole story. The moustache of Kaiser Wilhelm II faced upwards. The moustache of the emperor tamarin faces downwards, but a taxidermist did something wrong and prepared the moustache the other way.

 

Well I didn't know that and that bit of interesting trivia has just blown my mind and made me love the species even more (no love for its name sake der Kaiser though).

Thanks for sharing !

 

A zoo used a drawing of the emperor tamarin with the inverted moustache a few decades ago

 

On the information sign ? which zoo ?

 

@devilfish You've traveled widely across Latin America and been to many zoos around the world that hold New world primates so I'm wondering do you have a favourite species that you've seen so far ?

 

It was on an information sign at the Clore Pavilion at London Zoo a few decades ago

 

Yes. Golden-rumped lion tamarins are also known as Black Lion tamarins.

 

I've always preferred to call it the black lion tamarin as that is a main distinction from the other Leontopithecus species.

 

Sorry if that was a little confusing!

 

No , dont worry , I agree that this is another common name for the species its just I've never personally found it be a good one.

Let me explain, the thing is that even with only four species in the genus it can still get kind of confusing with all of the common names in Portuguese, Spanish and English that refer to specific gold or black coloured parts of these animals anatomy. So I prefer to distinguish between the species by calling them by their Latin / scientific names with colleagues.

When I use their common names I prefer to make a distinction between the two southernmost species based on the defining physical characteristic of one and the area of endemism (well...what was originally thought to be the extent of occurence but actually turned out to be incorrect) of the other.

So I personally prefer to call these monkeys: the black lion tamarin and Superagui lion tamarin. This helps to avoid all the leonine black and gold semantic confusion.

 

A bit late to this but I should probably add to this thread that my favourite new world primate species is of course the buffy tufted marmoset (Callithrix aurita).

I work in a conservation programe for this endangered Callitrichid with my colleagues and so it is a species that holds a huge personal significance for me in my life.

From the moment I first saw this species in a zoo to the present it has been an animal whose plight has interested, moved and concerned me and it is a priviledge to be in a position to assist efforts to conserve it.

In terms of other new world primates that interest me I like them all but I must say that I am mostly into the Callitrichids and I suppose this is mainly because of just how threatened many species of these are.

I would say some favourites of mine would be other tamarin and marmoset species of conservation concern such as the buffy headed marmoset, the black lion tamarin and the pied tamarin to name but a few.

 

Pied Tamarin. Gorilla sized personality in a squirrel sized body.

 

That is an interesting comparison @FBBird, they are indeed full of character

I'm curious, could you share some of your experiences where you saw the personality / temperament of this species displayed in action ?

 

I don't really have a favourite. I love the muriquis, so if pushed I'd probably go for them (although I've only seen southern.) I really like the variety among the marmosets, titis and saki monkeys (among others) too.

 

Thank you for your comment @devilfish !

Interesting choice !

I'm a big fan of the muriqui too and find them fascinating and really very engaging to watch as they are a very mobile animal in almost constant movement.

That said unlike my colleagues who have worked with the Muriqui for decades I'm really much more of a marmoset person lol and it is the callitrichids that are my favourites and that interest me most.

 

I don't necessarily have a favorite species (although goeldi's monkey is a strong contendor), but recently I saw my first ever brown capuchins at the Buffalo Zoo. In the past I have never been the biggest capuchin monkey fan, but was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching the brown capuchins. Not only were they very active, but are an intelligent, charismatic, and engaging species to watch. I wouldn't call it my favorite since there are so many interesting new world primates, but definitely a species I have a newfound appreciation for.

 

Thanks for commenting @Neil chace !

I'm curious about what you mention about the Goeldi' s monkey because these are usually not seen as too interesting by people.

Why are these strong contenders for you ?

Capuchins are a fascinating group and I find them very interesting to watch too because of their incredible intelligence.

The brown and tufted capuchins are very common here in this region of Brazil and of course they interest me but I think my favourite species would be the Buffy headed capuchin because of how threatened they are.

 

I find Goeldi's Monkeys to be one of the most interesting small primates to watch. When I go to the Buttonwood Park Zoo, the goeldi's are almost always the most active of their six primate species and are often the most engaging as well, particularly since they have such a large group. I just think that they make a very good exhibit animal and one I wish more zoos would consider keeping, possibly as a replacement for Cottontop tamarins since they are extremely common and not the most interesting of callitchrids.