COMMON MARMOSET

CHARACTERISTICS: Their length is around 17 to 22cm and the tail measures between 24 and 38cm with an approximate weight of 300 grams. They are diurnal animals of rapid and nervous movements, and are capable of jumping distances of more than four metres. They have odour glands located on the chest which serve to provide information about the species, parentage, sex, receptivity and dominance of the specimen.
DIET: Insects (grasshoppers, cicadas or crickets), arachnids, small vertebrates, bid eggs, fruit and sap from trees.
REPRODUCTION: Each female can procreate twice a year. The gestation period is 5 months and two dizygotic twins tend to be born in 60% of cases. The other members of the group help the young, and learn, and thereby win favours from the dominant pair, avoiding their aggressions.
CURIOSITIES: They have modified nails in the shape of claws, adapted to grip on to trees and extract insects from bark. The ovulation of subordinate females is inhibited by the dominant females who produce pheromones that impede the secretion of the hormone required for ovulation.