Saguinus oedipus
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
Saguinus
Saguinus oedipus

description: 42.
Cotton-top Tamarin
Saguinus oedipus
French: Tamarin pinché / German: Lisztaffchen / Spanish: Tamarin de cabeza blanca Other common names: Cotton-headed Tamarin, Cottontop Tamarin
Taxonomy. Simia oedipus Linnaeus, 1758,
America. Restricted by A. Humboldt in 1812 to Colombia, and further restricted by P. Hershkovitz in 1949 to the lower Rio Sinu, Cordoba, Colombia.
Formerly included S. geoffroyi as a subspecies. Monotypic.
Distribution. NW Colombia, between the Rio Atrato and the lower Rio Cauca (W of the Rio Cauca and the Mompos I) and Rio Magdalena (from the Uraba region, W of the Rio Cauca), and NE Choco Department, E of the Rio Atrato, from sea level to ¢.400 m. Small, introduced populations occur in Tayrona National Natural Park (15,000 ha) and on some small Is near Cartagena and in Panama, outside its natural distribution.
Descriptive notes. Head—-body 21-26 cm,tail 33-40 cm; weight mean 417-6 g (males, n = 37) and 404-1 g (females, n = 29). The name “cotton-top” refersto the species’ long white topknot and mane. The Cotton-top Tamarin is mainly agouti gray-brown above, with a white stomach, forearms, legs, hands, and feet, with reddish patches on thighs and rump. The tail is red on its proximal one-half, then dark brown. The extent and tone of the reddish color on thighs and proximate part of the tail varies. The face and ears are black and bare, although covered with fine white hairs giving them a grizzled appearance. Individuals from the Rio San Jorge and the region of Zambrano, Bolivar Departmant, tend to be yellowish rather than white.
Habitat. Primary and secondary lowland evergreen dry deciduous forest, scrubland, and forest edge. Social behavior, diet, and home range of the Cotton-top Tamarin were studied by P. Neyman in an isolated dry forest of 600 ha at Tolu in the north of the Sucre Department, in 1973-1975. Long-term field studies have been conducted by A. Savage, H. Giraldo, L.. Hernando Soto, and colleagues from 1988 to 1996 in Estacion Experimental de Fauna Silvestre de Coloso, adjacent to Reserva Forestal Protectora Serrania de Coraza-Montes de Maria (4000 ha), one of of the principal refuges of the Cotton-top Tamarin in the northern Atlantic coast of Colombia. Subsequently, in 1999, they established a long-term study site at Hacienda El Ceibal, a 300-ha forested area on privately owned land in Santa Catalina, Bolivar Department.
Food and Feeding. Diets of the Cotton-top Tamarin include fruits of trees, vines, and epiphytes; new leaves and leaf buds; nectar; gums, notably of Enterolobium cyclocarpum; insects; frogs; and lizards. Neyman’s two-year study recorded Cotton-top tamarins eating fruits of 48 species in 28 families. No information was recorded concerning seasonal changes or the relative importance of different foods in the diet, but fruits from species of Moraceae and Flacourtiaceae were common, and the most important species included Inga punctata (Fabaceae), two species of Ficus (Moraceae), Anacardium excelsum and Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae), and Quararibea (Bombacaceae). Cotton-top Tamarins forage for animal prey typically in the middle and lower canopy.
Breeding. With a mean of 183 days, gestation of the Cotton-top Tamarin is relatively long compared with other callitrichids. In captivity, females reach sexual maturity at c.84 weeks, and testicular growth of males is completed at c.76 weeks. In the wild, they typically produce one litter of twins once a year. Mortality is highest in the first week, and infant survival for any particular breeding female increases over successive litters. Birth peaks of Cotton-top Tamarins occurred in March-May at Sucre and in March-June at the Coloso site,at the onset of the rainy season when fruit production is highest. Females become sexually receptive 4-5 weeks after giving birth and can become pregnant again. The ovarian cycle is 18 days. Thus, females can potentially produce young twice a year. As in Geoffroy’s Tamarin (S. geoffroyi), many female Cotton-top Tamarins, although pregnant, often eventually fail to give birth. This phenomenon may be associated with a seasonallack of food (unpredictability) or, for example, poor conditions of the mother for any other reason. As in saddle-back tamarins, post-pubescent female Cotton-top Tamarins are reproductively suppressed by the breeding female in the group andfail to show normal ovarian cycling while they remain in their natal family group. Suppressed females also have low rates of scent marking, and their scent glands are lightly pigmented and excrete little sebum. Only when these females leave their natal group and are in the company of a novel male does ovarian cycling occur, stimulating reproductive behavior. The mating system of the Cotton-top Tamarin is variable. Monogamy is evident when there is only one breeding pair, but presence of more than one adult male in stable groups indicates the possibility of polyandry. Polygynous groups also occur, especially following immigration of a male stranger, but they are not stable. Studies in captivity have shown that Cotton-top Tamarins exhibit sex-specific aggression toward unfamiliar conspecifics and there is strong reproductive competition between females. In the Coloso study of eight groups during five years, only twice were two females found to be pregnant in the same group following entry of a new male into the group. In one case, only one female eventually gave birth, and in the second, neither female produced infants. Reproductive tenure of females in groups where they were the only breeding female was a minimum of 30 months. Of 15 observed emigrations, both males and femalesleft the group, and they were more frequently adults than juveniles; all moved just once to join a neighboring group. Males frequently left their groups to enter other groupss where the resident male had died.
Activity patterns. Cotton-top Tamarins at Sucre begin their daily activities quite late, up to an hour and 20 minutes after sunrise, and forage and take short rests after 07:30 h.
Inactive bouts are typically 30-60 minutes long, but they can last as long as two hours at midday. During the day, they travel 1500-1900 m and visit all parts of their homes range in 2-3 days. At ¢.16:30 h, they become quieter and more cohesive as a group while they move to their sleeping site. They spend an hour or so sitting quietly or foraging around their sleeping site until they retire, generally at 16:30-18:30 h. Sleeping sites include large branches, near to or at the fork of the tree trunk, low trees with dense crowns, and dense liana festoons.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Groups of Cotton-top Tamarins contain 2-15 individuals and often more than one adult male. The study in Sucre by Neyman monitored six groups that had 3-13 individuals, with 2-6 adults and never more than two juveniles. Groups were quite unstable in their composition, with numerous immigrations, individuals leaving or disappearing and reappearing, and groups splitting up. Eight groups monitored during five years at the Coloso field site in northern Colombia had 2-10 individuals (mean 5-8), with no bias in the sex ratio. In contrast to groups at Sucre, these groups were quite stable. Two of the groups at Sucre had home ranges of 7-8 ha each, and the home range of a third was 10 ha. Home range overlap was 20-30%. From these numbers, density was estimated at 30-180 ind/ km?, probably an artificially high number related to the forest's isolation (surrounded by pasture) and the reason for the instability of the social groups. Encounters between groups at home range boundaries occurred every few days. They involved general agitation, chases, rasp vocalizations (when in close contact), exchanges of long calls, whistle-like “dip” calls (about a one-second-long whistle with a cadence), chasing, and fights (“grappling”). Interactions were between adults; juveniles did not take part in these encounters.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The geographic distribution of the Cotton-top Tamarin has long been densely inhabited by people; from indigenous pre-Colombian populations to today’s widespread villages, towns, roads,cattle ranches, and farms. Most ofits former habitat has been deforested for cattle pasture, and remaining populations are confined to isolated forest fragments. In 1977, Neyman estimated that 75% of the forest in its original distribution had been cleared for agriculture and pasture and the remainder was mostly small isolated forest patches. Preferring secondary forest, Cotton-top Tamarins do benefit somewhat from selective logging, and their numbers are believed to have increased in some areas. Nevetheless, years of capture for biomedical research and the pet trade, habitat loss, and an extremely limited distribution have combined to put them at serious risk. Between 1960 and 1975, 30,000-40,000 Cotton-top Tamarins were captured and exported from Baranquilla, Colombia, before the country prohibited trade (except a limited number for biomedical research) in 1973. It is believed that at least one-third or more that were captured perished prior to export. The Cotton-top Tamarin is still used in biomedical experimentation, particularly for research on Epstein-Barr virus, colitis, and colon cancer. In 1998, the captive population was estimated at 2000-3000 individuals. A multidisciplinary in situ conservation program called Proyecto Titi was established in 1985, combining field research, education initiatives, and community programs to make conservation of natural resources economically feasible for local communities in the region. It began in Colos6 in 1987, and it moved to Santa Catalina at Hacienda El Ceibal in 1999. The project generated a Colombian non-profit organization, Fundacion Proyecto Titi, to support conservation and research activities to protect the region, using the Cotton-top Tamarin as a flagship species. A survey of Cotton-top Tamarins in the wild was done from October 2005 to February 2007. A prior analysis using remote sensing covered 27% of the remaining habitat (4019 km? in 43 patches of 18-1735 ha) within the historical distribution of the Cotton-top Tamarin and indicated that 14,534 km? of suitable forest remained. In this area, Cotton-top Tamarins were found in only 99 km?, providing an estimate of only 2045 individuals (range 1587-2634). Assuming comparable densities in the nonsurveyed areas, ¢.7394 wild cotton-top tamarins remain in Colombia. In the southern part ofits distribution, Cotton-top Tamarins occur in Paramillo National Natural Park (460,000 ha established in 1977). This area is considered to be the last major stronghold for the Cotton-top Tamarin, but its integrity is threatened because of the construction of two hydroelectric dams, Urra I and Urra II, on the rios Sinu and San Jorge. Twenty percent of the forest in this Park was lost between 1990 and 2000, and current estimates are that less than 58% of the forest remains. In the 7460-ha Montes de Maria Forest Reserve, 70% of the forest has been lost, and likewise 71% of the forest in the 1000-ha Los Colorados Fauna and Flora Sanctuary had been destroyed—both areas have Cotton-top Tamarins. Habitat destruction and capture for the illegal pet trade are ongoing, and urgent conservation measures are required to prevent the extinction of the Cotton-top Tamarin in the wild.
Bibliography. Achenbach & Snowdon (1998, 2002), Bedard et al. (1978), Belcher et al. (1988), Brand (1981), Cheverud (1996), Cheverud et al. (1994), Cleveland & Snowdon (1982, 1984), Defler (2003b, 2004), Elowson et al. (1991), Epple et al. (1988), Feistner & Price (1990), French & Cleveland (1984), French & Snowdon (1981), French et al. (1984), Ghazanfar et al. (2001), Ginther et al. (2002), Giraldo et al. (2003), Hampton etal. (1966), Heistermann et al. (1989), Hernandez-Camacho & Cooper (1976), Hernandez-Camacho & Defler (1985, 1989), Hershkovitz (1949, 1977), Kirkwood (1983), Kirkwood & Underwood (1984), Mastet al. (1993), McGrew & McLuckie (1986), McGrew & Webster (1995), Miller et al. (2004), Moore & Cheverud (1992), Moore et al. (1991), Neyman (1977), Price (1990, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c, 1992d, 1993), Price & McGrew (1990, 1991), Roush & Snowdon (2001), Rylands (1993a), Sanchez et al. (1999), Savage (1990), Savage, Dronzek & Snowdon (1987), Savage, Giraldo, Blumer et al. (1993), Savage, Giraldo, Soto, Garcia & Nassar-Montoya (2003), Savage, Giraldo, Soto & Snowdon (1996), Savage, Guillen et al. (2010), Savage, Shideler et al. (1997), Savage, Snowdon et al. (1996), Savage, Soto, Lamilla & Guillen (2009), Savage, Soto, Medina et al. (2009), Savage, Thomas et al. (2010), Savage, Ziegler & Snowdon (1988), Savage, Zirofsky et al. (1996), Skinner (1991), Snowdon & Pickhard (1999), Snowdon & Soini (1988), Snowdon, Cleveland & French (1983), Snowdon, Ziegler & Widowski (1993), Tardif (1984), Tardif, Carson & Gangaware (1986, 1990, 1992), Tardif, Richter & Carson (1984), Washabaugh & Snowdon (1998), Weiss et al. (2001), Widowski, Porter et al. (1992), Widowski, Ziegler et al. (1990), Ziegler, Bridson et al. (1987), Ziegler, Epple et al. (1993), Ziegler, Savage et al. (1987), Ziegler, Widowski et al. (1990), Ziegler, Wittwer & Snowdon (1993).
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 pages 339-340, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5730714