ACO, PIP, KEEKEE, PENNY, TUPPENCE
AND SIXPENCE
COMMON MARMOSET - Callithrix jacchus
At the Haven we have a small collection of Common Marmosets named Jaco, Pip, Keekee, Penny, Tuppence and Sixpence.
They used to be owned by a private collector who could no longer look after them. She wanted them to stay together and did not want them to end up in the pet trade so they came to us.
The marmosets are a joy to watch as they spring around their homes pulling many facial expressions. They spend a lot of their time grooming each other and love to sleep huddled up together in their nest boxes.
Marmosets love to forage for food and so we hide it around the outside enclosure including any small holes in the trees. This is a real source of enrichment for them as it keeps them happily occupied.
ABOUT COMMON MARMOSETS
Marmosets come from all over South America and are some of the World's smallest monkeys ranging from 100 grams to 800 grams.
They are highly intelligent, sociable and pull many facial expressions. They vocalise in a very high pitched whistle and trill and chirp.
Common Marmosets are crepuscular, this means they are active in the early morning and late evening. They spend the hottest part of the day taking naps and grooming each other.
In the wild their diet consists primarily of gum, sap and resin which they find in trees. Common Marmosets have specialized lower incisors which they use to gnaw holes in the tree bark to access the gum underneath.
Marmosets live in varying group sizes usually with one dominant breeding female. After she gives birth it is usual in these small monkeys for the male to do the majority of the juvenile care only passing the young back to the female to feed.
Common Marmosets have thin greyish hair with dark stripes and black fur around their head and neck. The adults and juveniles have two amazing tufts of hair surrounding each of their ears and a white blaze on their forehead. Their tail is roughly twice as long as their body and consists of alternating dark and pale bonds of fur.
Common Name
Common Marmoset
Latin Name
Callithrix jacchus
Conservation status
Least Concern
Distribution
Brazil. Inhabit north-eastern and central forests from the Atlantic coast and inland as far west as the Rio Grande
Habitat
Scrub forest
Height
Approx: 185mm
Weight
230g - 260g
Wild Diet
Gum feeding specialists. They also eat fruit, flowers and insects
Breeding
Usually only one female per group will breed in a particular season, giving birth to non twins. First litter at 1 to 2 years of age, then every 6 months
Behavior
Common marmosets are arboreal (live in trees) and live in family groups of 4 to 15 individuals
