Golden-Handed Tamarins
Although popularly known as the golden-handed tamarin, this species is also referred to as the red-handed tamarin. This small primate has taken to peaceful cohabitation with the avian species in our sister sanctuary, Birds of Eden. They can move pretty quickly so don’t blink or you’ll miss them!

Physical Description: There are actually two subspecies of golden-handed tamarins. The subspecies are distinguished by their differently coloured hands and feet. The subspecies found in Birds of Eden is Saguinus midas midas and has yellow-gold hands and feet. The other subspecies, Saguinus midas nigra, has black hands and feet. The rest of the colouring of both subspecies is black, with specks of yellow-gold on their backs. Infants are born with light coloured faces which turn black as they grow older.

Golden-handed tamarins are one of the larger tamarin species. Body size ranges from 217–278mm plus a tail of 330–440mm in length! Females are smaller than males, weighing in at 432g versus 586g. Because of their relatively small size, goldens are prey for raptors, wild cats and snakes. A special feature of golden-handed tamarins is that their middle fingers are webbed. They also have claws instead of nails, much like marmosets. The brain of the golden-handed tamarin weighs
10.4g on average.

Habitat: Golden-handed tamarins are found in the northeastern Amazon in the countries of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. Golden-handed tamarins are arboreal, preferring the lower and middle range of their habitat (10–30m from the ground). Goldens are found in primary forest, secondary forest and on forest edges. They are sprightly jumpers, leaping distances up to 18m from the trees to the ground. Home ranges of goldens observed in field studies vary from 31.1–42.5ha.

Diet: Golden-handed tamarins feed mainly on insects and fruit. One study from French Guiana found that the diet of goldens varies with the season, but annually consists of 50.2% invertebrates and 47.1% fruit, with the remainder comprised of vegetables and leaves. Goldens have been observed to forage for insects and leaves mainly at a height of 10–20m and fruit about 20–30m above the ground. When goldens are in open forest, they will forage in groups, but when in the protection of the forest cover, they forage individually.

Life History: Golden-handed tamarins are born after a gestation of 140–168 days. Births usually occur in the spring and summer. Twins are common (75%), but births can also be a single infant or triplets. Fathers tend to be the primary caregiver, but like marmosets, goldens exhibit cooperative rearing where all group members help take care of infants. Infants are weaned around 2–3 months of age. The typical day for goldens begins about 30 minutes after sunrise. They are active for about 10–12 hours a day.

Their day ends about 1.5 hours before sunset when the group moves to its sleeping site. Goldens reuse sleeping sites about half of the time. The average return to a sleeping site is 8.7 days according to a field report from French Guiana. The lifespan for the golden-handed tamarin is approximately 10 years in the wild and 16 in captivity.

Associations: Golden-handed tamarins associate with bare-ear marmosets in the wild. Although cotton-top tamarins also live in Birds of Eden, the two tamarin species do not associate. Golden-handed tamarins and cotton-top tamarins do not occupy the same territories in the wild. In Birds of Eden they also stay in separate territories.

Social Structure: Golden-handed tamarins live in extended family groups of both males and females. Groups can be single-male/multi-female or multi-male/multi-female. Group size ranges from 2–12 individuals. Aggression has been observed between groups, but within-group dynamics are fairly cooperative. The breeding female has the position of authority and reigns over the entire group. Goldens protect their group members and have been reported to mob predators.

Communication: Golden-handed tamarins have scent glands around the chest and genitals which they use for territorial marking, as well as denoting sexual and social status. For example, they scent mark prior to mating and afterwards. At Birds of Eden, they can be seen scent marking the handrails! Apart from olfaction, they use vocalisations and visual signals to communicate.

There are 8 known vocalisations, including a specific one for predators. Social interactions include grooming and threats. If an individual wants to be groomed, it will lay down in front of a friend in the “throat exposed” posture. To threaten another individual, goldens shake their hair, bare their teeth, vocalise, or wrinkle their muzzle. They may also scent mark in combination with one or more of these behaviours when making a threat.

Mating: Golden-handed tamarins become sexually mature at 16–20 months of age. Before mating, the male and female engage in “mock fighting” and “tonguing”. Subordinate females are suppressed from breeding as there is only one breeding female in a group. Females cycle every 16 days. They typically give birth for the first time at 2 years of age and subsequently every 8 months on average. Females have been observed to mate just hours before birth and they can mate again as soon as 2 days after birth!

Conservation: The golden-handed tamarin has been assessed by the IUCN as Lower Risk/Least Concern due to its wide range. Like all primates, goldens are losing their habitat to humans. Goldens are not typically studied in captivity and there have been limited studies in the wild.

Did You Know? Golden-handed tamarins are heavy sleepers – they are very difficult to wake! They sleep together as a group. Their temperature drops when they sleep, so this may be a mechanism to conserve body heat.