Golden Lion Tamarin Monkeys are 24 inches long and weigh about 24 pounds. They live mostly in the tropical rainforest in Brazil.They feed on sweet pulpy fruits, insects and some small lizards.They usually have twins born in August and September.They live to be 15 years old.
The golden lion tamarin also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is an endangered species with an estimated wild population of "more than 1,000 individuals" and a captive population maintained at approximately 490 individuals.
The golden lion tamarin gets its name from its fiery orange or red pelage and the extra long hairs that form along its cheek, throat and ears, giving it a distinctive mane. Its face is dark and hairless. It is believed that the hair color of the tamarin is due to exposure to sunlight or the carotenoids in its diet.
There is almost no size difference between males and females. As with all callitrichines, the golden lion tamarin has tegulae, which are claw-like nails, instead of ungulae or flat nails found in all other primates, including humans. Tegulaes enable tamarins to cling to the side of tree trunks. They may also move quadrupedally along the smaller branches, whether through walking, running, leaping or bounding. This gives it a locomotion more similar to squirrels than primates.
