DIET: Insects, fruit, plant and nectar. Occasionally reptiles and amphibians
REGION: Northwestern Colombia
TYPE: Mammal
SIZE: 15.16 – 17.91 inches (38.5 – 45.49 cm)
WEIGHT: 5.06 – 7.7 lbs (2.30 to 3.49 kg)
HABITAT: Tropical and dry forests and secondary (regrown after a disturbance) forests
LIFESPAN: 13 years in the wild. Up To 24 years in captivity
These New World monkeys are small-bodied and easily recognized by the characteristic fan of long, white hair on their heads. They have very fine hair on their black-skinned faces such that their faces appear naked. The most common modes of locomotion for Cotton-Top Tamarins include quadrupedal running, bounding, or galloping along medium to small branches as well as clinging and leaping between trees on thin or small branches. Cotton-Top Tamarins live for an average of 13.5 years, but the oldest recorded Cotton-Top Tamarins lived to be 24 years old in captivity.
Cotton-Top Tamarins use multiple layers of the tropical forests in which they are found, moving vertically between the understory and canopy, but preferentially utilizing the lower vertical levels of the forest.
