Illiger’s Saddle-Back Tamarin

• Common Name: Illiger’s Saddle-back Tamarin
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1845
• Monkey Size: 175 to 205 cm (6.9 to 8.1 in)
• Skin Color(s): Brown
• Habitat: Forest, rainforest
• Diet: Omnivorous
• Native Countries: Peru

Illiger’s saddleback tamarin^[1] (Leontocebus illigeri) is a species of saddleback tamarin, a type of small monkey native to South America.

• Illiger’s saddleback tamarin was formerly considered a subspecies of brown-mantled tamarin (Leontocebus fuscicollis).
• Like most other tamarin monkeys, Illiger’s saddleback tamarin is small.
• Their head and body length are between 17.5 centimeters (6.9 inches) and 20.5 centimeters (8.1 inches), with a tail length of between 30 centimeters (12 inches) and 30.5 centimeters (12.0 inches).
• Male species weigh around 292 grams (10.3 ounces), and females weigh around 296 grams (10.4 ounces).
• Illiger’s saddleback tamarins are distinguished by the saddle-shaped patch of agouti fur on their sides, neck, arms, and legs.

• Illiger’s saddleback tamarin is native to the Peruvian Amazon, and its type locality is in Loreto, Peru, on the left bank of the lower Ucayali River.
• They are arboreal and diurnal, spending most of their time in the lower layers of the forest (below 11 m or 36 feet).
• The male Illiger’s saddleback tamarin contributes much to parental care, with males carrying and preening more babies than females.
• Because of their small size, these tamarins are preyed on by large carnivores in the forest. Some animals that hunt this monkey are wild cats, birds of prey, wolves, dogs, and snakes.
• The IUCN classifies Illiger’s saddleback tamarin as near threatened from a conservation perspective.