Marmoset

1 Species Overview

The marmoset (Marmoset) is also called the thumb monkey because of its tiny size. It moves with great agility, especially darting and leaping nimbly among the trees. It is one of the smallest monkeys in the world, living in the forests of the Amazon River basin in South America. It likes to pick and eat lice, and has a gentle temperament, which made keeping it a pastime among local indigenous people.

Taxonomy: Chinese name Rong Hou; alias thumb monkey (Zhi Mu Hou); English name Marmoset; kingdom Animalia; phylum Chordata; class Mammalia; order Primates; family Callitrichidae (marmosets and tamarins); genus Callithrix (typical marmosets), with the pygmy marmoset Cebuella pygmaea being the smallest species.

Distribution: forests of the upper Amazon in South America; some pygmy marmosets range in western Brazil, Ecuador and northern Peru.

2 Physical Characteristics

The marmoset’s most typical feature is a tail longer than its body, with a prehensile tip. Its small, delicate body moves very nimbly. An adult stands only about 10 to 12 cm tall and weighs roughly 80 to 100 g.

The marmoset family has as many as 3 genera and 35 species, small and low-ranking apes from Central and South America. The marmoset has a prehensile tail, a round head, no cheek pouches and laterally placed nostrils. A newborn is only the size of a broad bean, weighing 13 g. All marmosets are lively, cute, gentle and fragile, and easy to tame. The marmoset is also called the ‘pocket monkey’ or ‘thumb monkey’ because a small one can be carried in a pocket or hand cage.

3 Habitat and Environment

Almost all monkeys love to climb; as the saying goes, ‘treating someone like a monkey’ shows how lively and cute their nature is, and marmosets are no exception. More people keep marmosets as pets today, so how should a home environment be arranged for them?

Most marmosets grow in the forests of the upper Amazon in South America, with some pygmy marmosets distributed in western Brazil, Ecuador and northern Peru along the upper Amazon.

Because marmosets are very active, prepare a fairly large cage that gives them room to move. Almost all monkeys are used to life in the trees, so the cage should have some height, with branches provided for climbing, plus a slightly dim and hidden den where the monkey can rest quietly during the day. As ready-made cages of the right size are rarely sold, building your own may be the only option. As with all monkeys, nail wooden slats across the cage floor to keep the tail and feet clean and away from droppings; if the slat gaps are too wide and a hand could reach the droppings, add a layer of wire mesh in the middle to prevent contact.

4 Keeping and Breeding

Unlike other monkeys that love fruit, the marmoset’s favorite food is insects; it also likes to pick and eat lice. If kept at home, you must consider whether you can meet its dietary needs, or it will be hard for it to survive long term. But its temperament is quite good, so it is popular locally. The marmoset’s gestation period is 146 days (140 to 150), sexual maturity at 14 months, with menstruation and a 16-day estrous cycle. Mating is not season-limited and can be bred artificially in cages, with 1 to 3 young per litter and a twinning rate of about 80 percent.