Ecology and Population Dynamics of the Pygmy Marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea

Abstract

The pygmy marmoset population of a 3-km2 sample area of Amazonian lowland forest was censused and monitored intensively between September 1976 and January 1978. Floodplain forest constituted the habitat of Cebuella and supported a population density of 51.5 independently locomoting individuals (ILI) per square kilometer. The highest population concentration occurred along the edges of the river, where the density reached 274 ILI per km2. Adults comprised about one half of the total population. About 83% of the population lived in stable troops; the remaining 17% was made up by incipiently associated pairs and solitary individuals. Stable troops were made up of 1 breeding female, her mate, and her maturing offspring of up to four successive litters. Moreover, some troops contained 1–2 additional adult members. Troop size ranged from 2 to 9 ILI, with a modal size of 6 ILI. The births showed two annual peaks and the interbirth intervals ranged between 5 and 7 months. Infant survival was about 67%. Exudates (sap and gums) of trees and vines, insects and arachnids constituted the principal food resources of the population. The troops occupied exclusive home ranges of 0.2–0.4 ha. Several troops changed home range sites temporarily or permanently in the course of the study.

Translocation and radio-telemetry monitoring of pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea (Spix, 1823), in the Brazilian Amazon

“…In field surveys we searched for feeding holes on tree trunks and we also tried to attract putative resident pygmy marmoset individuals using playback of C. pygmaea vocalizations available in Emmons and Feer (1997). iii) We also verified in literature the presence of plant genera that could possibly be used as exudate source by the reintroduced group, including genera that were already reported as exudate source for the pygmy marmoset such as Ceiba, Inga Miller, Parkia R. Brown, Trichilia P. Browne, Tapirira Aublet, Vochysia Aublet (Soini, 1982;Soini and Soini 1990;Nascimento et al, 2007;Santos, 2007;Reis, 2007;Pansini, 2008;Silva and Bentes-Gama, 2008).…”

“…In Brazil, it occurs only in the states of Acre, Amazonas and Rondônia, and in the latter state their presence has just been recently confirmed (Messias et al, 2011). The species feeds primarily on arthropods and plant exudates, however other food items may also be included such as fruits, buds, flowers and nectar (Soini, 1982). The availability of these resources will directly influence the size of the home range of C. pygmaea, whose recorded values range from 0.1 to 1.3 ha (Ferrari and Lopes Ferrari, 1989;Townsend, 2001).…”

Ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia in the smallest simian primate, the pygmy marmoset

“…This contrasts to the present study where V E/V O 2 does not significantly change (Figs. 1 and 3) from normoxia (ϳ40) to acute (ϳ50) or graded hypoxia (from [40][41][42][43][44][45]. Much like metabolism and T b , ventilation itself exhibited a marked decline during both graded and acute hypoxia, with the decline being facilitated by a drop in f, whereas VT remained constant (Tables 1 and 2).…”

“…Marmosets (family Callitrichidae), on the other hand, are small-bodied primates. They are heterothermic mammals (T b fluctuates by 4°C daily) that inhabit lowland forests of the Amazon (40). Although never likely to encounter ambient hypoxia in the wild, marmosets provide a valuable comparison to rats due to their similar size and their status as a primate.…”

The morphology of the masticatory apparatus facilitates muscle force production at wide jaw gapes in tree-gouging common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

“…Ferrari, 1993;Garber, 1984;Garber, 1992;Neyman, 1977;Smith and Jungers, 1997;Stevenson and Rylands, 1988;Sussman and Kinzey, 1984). Marmosets, however, actively gouge trees with their anterior dentition to stimulate exudate flow (Coimbra-Filho and Mittermeier, 1976;Coimbra-Filho and Mittermeier, 1977;Lacher et al, 1984) whereas tamarins feed opportunistically on exudates that have been released by other means (Ferrari, 1993;Garber, 1992;Peres, 1989;Soini, 1982). Marmosets can spend a significant portion of their daily activity cycle, up to 70% of their day, feeding on tree exudates Lacher et al, 1981;Maier et al, 1982;Sussman and Kinzey, 1984).…”