Callithrix penicillata
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Callitrichidae
Callithrix
Callithrix penicillata

description: 22.
Black-tufted-ear Marmoset
Callithrix penicillata
French: Ouistiti a pinceaux noirs / German: Schwarzbuschelaffchen / Spanish: Titi de pincel negro Other common names: Black-penciled Marmoset, Black-tufted Marmoset
Taxonomy. Jacchus penicillatus E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812,
Brazil. Restricted by O. Thomas in 1911 to Lamarao, near Salvador, Bahia.
A. Humboldt is often credited in various ways with the name of this species, but E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire is the rightful authority. Humboldt in 1812 (dated 1811 but actually published a year later) credited Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire for his 1812 publication in Tome 19 of Annales du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, where this species’ name first appeared. Humboldt’s nomenclatural act was a “name combination” in which he combined the name given by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire with the genus Simia. This species hybridizes with C. geoffroyi in Minas Gerais State and C. jacchus in Bahia State. Monotypic.
Distribution. SC Brazil in the states of Maranhao, Tocantins (E of the Rio Araguaia), SW tip of Piaui, Bahia (S of the rios Grande and Sao Francisco), Goias, Minas Gerais, N of Sao Paulo (N of the rios Tieté and Piracicaba), and NE Mato Grosso do Sul (E of the Serra de Maracaju to the level of the rios Pardo or Taquaracu, and right bank tributaries of the Rio Parana). Along with the Common Marmoset (C. jacchus), it has been introduced to the more humid Atlantic Forest on the coast of the states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Catarina.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 20-23 cm, tail 29-33 cm; weight ¢.225 g (males) and c.180 g (females). The Black-tufted-ear Marmoset is named forits distinctive black ear tufts that spring from just in front of the ears and tend to sag down into long “pencils” (each c.4-5 cm). Fur is generally speckled-gray above with yellowish-brown limbs and a ringed tail. The head is also yellowish-brown, with a black face and a triangular patch of white fur on the forehead.
Habitat. Wide ranging in semi-deciduous forest patches, liana forest, scleromorphic savanna (cerrado), open-canopy woodland (“cerradao”), buriti (Mauritia flexuosa, Arecaceae) palm woodlands (“veredas”), gallery forests in the central savanna (Cerrado region) of Brazil, and dry forests (arboreal caatinga) and gallery forests in the Caatinga region (semi-desert xeromorphic scrub and woodland) of north-eastern Brazil, Goias, and northern, central, and eastern Minas Gerais. The Black-tufted-ear Marmoset can also be found in the mesophytic Atlantic Forest in parts of eastern and southern Minas Gerais and northern Sao Paulo; probably a relatively recent invasion due to the widespread destruction and degradation of the forest and its replacement forming mosaics of forest fragments, cerrado, and scrub.
Food and Feeding. Gums are a major component of the diet of the Black-tufted-ear Marmoset. Important plants that provide these exudates include numerous species common in gallery forests and cerradao: Tapirira guianensis (Anacardiaceae), Didymopanax macrocarpus (Araliaceae), Terminalia brasiliensis (Combretaceae), Enterolobium gummferum (Fabaceae), Plathymenia reticulata (Mimosaceae), Magonia pubescens (Sapindaceae), and a number of species of the family Vochysiaceae, including Callisthene major, Qualea dichotoma, Q. parviflora, Q. grandiflora, Vochysia pyramidalis, V. tucanorum, V. rufa, and V. thyrsoidea. They also eat red latex of Hancornia speciosa (Apocynaceae). A study of three groups of Black-tufted-ear Marmosets in cerradao in the Botanical Gardens of Brasilia identified 22 plant species with gouge holes on their trunks and branches. Another study in gallery forest identified 14 plant species attacked by marmosets to obtain gums. In general, a group concentrates on 1-3 species that comprise the majority of feeding records; other species are attacked occasionally. These groups in the botanical gardens ate fruits of another 14 trees, including a number of species of Miconia, especially M. ferruginata and M. albicans (Melastomataceae), Brosimum gaudichaudii (Moraceae), Duguetia furfuracea (Annonaceae), and Simarouba versicolor (Simaroubaceae). A study in a gallery forest, also near to Brasilia, found them gouging and eating gums from some of the species already mentioned (principally Tapirira guianensis), as well as Piptocarpha macropoda (Asteraceae) and Sclerolobium paniculatum (Fabaceae). Fruits eaten included mainly Salacia elliptica (Celastraceae), Emmotum nitens (Icacinaceae), Terminalia (Combretaceae), Nectanda lanceolata (Lauraceae), Licania (Chrysobalanaceae), Protium (Burseraceae), and Myrcia (Myrtaceae).
Breeding. Births of the Black-tufted-ear Marmoset occurred in August-September (end of the dry season) and February—January (near the end of the wet season) in the cerrado and gallery forests near Brasilia. Of seven births recorded in a group studied for more than 40 months in a patch of cerrado forest in the suburbs of Campo Grande, Mato Gross do Sul, three occurred in the early wet season (October-November), two in the mid- to late wet season (December and February), one in the first month of the dry season (April), and one in the middle of the dry season (July). Fruit was more abundant in the wet season. Births were twice yearly, and interbirth intervals in four cases were 5-9 months. One female bred twice in the early part of the study and then left the group. A second female took over as breeding female, but she was already two-months pregnant when the first female left. A male that entered the group three months prior to the emigration of the first breeding female was believed to be the father. Nine emigrations were recorded during 40-month study; in three cases where age could be determined, all individuals were nine months old.
Activity patterns. Gums are eaten particularly in the early morning and late afternoon.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Black-tufted-ear Marmoset generally forms groups of 5-6 individuals, but they can be as small as two individiuals and as large as 13 individuals, often with 2-3 adults. Home range sizes recorded for groups in cerradao were 2-5-18-5 ha, and a group studied in a gallery forest occupied a home range of 3-5 ha. Core areas of these home ranges tended to be determined by the group’s principal gum sources, especially Tapirira guianensis. A group studied in an urban patch of cerrado forest in Mato Grosso do Sul State occupied 6 ha and had 5-12 individuals over 40 months, with 2-5 adult males and 1-3 adult females at any one time. During the study, the group evidently split with the breeding female emigrating with two five-month-old juveniles and her 16-month-old daughter. Another adult female took over as breeding female. Remains of Black-tufted-ear Marmosets have been found in a nest of the ornate hawk-eagle (Spizaetus ornatus). White-tailed kites (Elanus leucurus), crested caracaras (Polyborus plancus), snakes, and small cats elicit anti-predator behavior. Densities of Black-tufted-ear Marmosets can be quite high: e.g. 38-7-50 ind/ km? in secondary and gallery forests near Brasilia and 40-57 ind/km?in cerradao. In the dry forest of the Botanical Gardens of Brasilia, densities exceed 80 ind/km?. In some cases, densities are low; in the gallery forest of the Corrego da Onca, also near Brasilia, groups average only 2-5 ind/group, with a density of 3-2 ind/km?.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Black-tufted-ear Marmosetis widespread and hardy, and it is able to survive in extremely degraded habitats. Nevertheless, populations have disappeared or are declining in many parts of its distribution. It has been introduced into part of the Rio Doce and Ibitipoca state parks in Minas Gerais and Ilha Grande State Park in Rio de Janeiro. Protected areas within its geographical distribution include the national parks of Emas, Chapada dos Veadeiros, Serra da Canastra, Serra do Cipo, Araguaia, Grande Sertao Veredas, Chapada da Diamantina, Chapada dos Veadeiros, and Cavernas do Peruacu, and Mata Escura Biological Reserve, Pirapitinga Ecological Station, Raso da Catarina (possibly introduced or mixed populations with the Common Marmosets), Jatal State Ecological Station, Veredas do Oeste Baiano Wildife Refuge, and Acaua State Reserve.
Bibliography. Andrade-Greco & Andrade (1999), Barros, Alencar & Tomaz (2004), Barros, Boere et al. (2002), Coimbra-Filho (1971, 1972, 1984, 1990), de Faria (1984a, 1984b, 1986), da Fonseca & Lacher (1984), Henriques & Cavalcante (2004), Hershkovitz (1977), Lacher et al. (1981, 1984), de Miranda & de Faria (2001), Nogueira et al. (2010), Odéalia-Rimoli & Rimoli (2007), Olmos & Martuscelli (1995), Passamani (1996a), Passamani, Aguiar et al. (1997), Rizzini & Coimbra-Filho (1981), Rylands & de Faria (1993), Rylands, Coimbra-Filho & Mittermeier (1993, 2009), Rylands, da Fonseca et al. (1996), Rylands, Spironelo et al. (1988), Seabra et al. (1991), Stevenson & Rylands (1988), Vilela & de Faria (2002, 2004).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Callitrichiade, pp. 262-346 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 319, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5730714