Geoffroy’s Saddleback Tamarin

• Common Name: Geoffroy’s Saddle-back Tamarin
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1851
• Monkey Size: 19 to 21.9 cm (7.5 to 8.6 in)
• Skin Color(s): Bright orange
• Habitat: Forest, rainforest
• Diet: Omnivorous
• Native Countries: Peru

Geoffroy’s saddleback tamarin^[1] is a saddled tamarin, a species of small monkey native to South America.

• Dense, dark fur covers this tiny New World Monkey‘s arms, shoulders, and upper body.
• It has a patch of painted skin on its back that mixes orange-yellow stripes with patches of black fur, creating a mottled pattern called an “agouti” (which gives the primate its “saddle“).
• Yellow-orange fur drapes the monkey’s hindquarters, and black fur adheres to its long tail and extends toward the tip.
• Long, narrow hands, considered an adaptation, help the saddleback tamarin reach small crevices and catch insects.
• Scalloped ears protrude from a small round head covered in black fur. The snout is flat and covered with white hairs or whiskers in some individuals.
• These white accents could also decorate the monkey’s forehead.

• Geoffroy’s saddleback tamarins often associate and form mixed groups with mustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax). Both species often perch in the same tree, responding to each other’s alarm calls.
• Ideally, they choose an area where they have exclusive feeding rights, usually among various fruit trees, to maximize their daily feeding expeditions.
• The monkeys retreat before nightfall, finding safety in the abundance of tangled trees and vines.
• Saddleback tamarins have also perched in tree hollows or on the forks of large tree trunks.
• Home range size depends on the availability of food sources and varies seasonally, from 16 to 120 ha (39.5 to 297 acres).