Part 11

Of the New World, or Platyrrhine, Apes, the Marmosets come to be described first, as they have many characters which mark them out as the lowest of the _Anthropoidea_, and rank them nearer to the _Lemuroidea_ than any of the others. They are specially characterised by having only thirty-two teeth, their dental formula being I2/2, C1/1, P3/3, M2/2. In the actual number of their teeth they agree with their Eastern relations, but with this {130}difference, that in the latter the pre-molars are two, and the molars three, above and below on each side. Their flattened nose, with its wide partition between the nostrils, and their non-prehensile bushy tails, are also distinguishing characters. The face is nude, the ears large and sometimes fringed. Their hind-limbs are proportionately larger and longer than their fore-limbs, while the nails of their fingers and toes are not flattened as in the Old World Apes, but all form sharp curved claws, except on the much shortened great toe. The thumb is elongated and lies parallel, but quite unopposable to, nor indeed is it separable at will from, the rest of the digits. The fore-foot, consequently, "is a mere paw, and the term 'hand' is not applicable to it."... The plantar surface of the hind-foot "is very long, and the digits are very short. It follows from these facts that the term 'quadrumanous' is not applicable in any sense to the Marmosets." (_Huxley._) These animals have no callosities over the ischial (or buttock) bones, and no cheek-pouches. In their smooth and rounded skull superciliary ridges are conspicuously absent; and the ear-capsules have, as has been already observed, no external bony canal for conducting sound vibrations to the inner ear. The hyoid bone resembles that of the Lemurs.

This family has been divided into two genera, distinguished from each other only by a variation in the relative length of their incisor and canine teeth, which is so slight as to render it doubtful whether these differences really warrant the generic separation of the two groups. As, however, the distinction has been maintained by nearly all writers upon these animals, the arrangement has been followed here, and the various species of the family will be described as true Marmosets (_Hapale_) and {131}Tamarins (_Midas_). They are most numerous in the equatorial forests of South America.

THE MARMOSETS. GENUS HAPALE.

_Hapale_, Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm., p. 71 (1811).

The members of this genus, which are often kept in captivity as pets, are very small animals, covered with thick and silky fur, and having bushy tails, equal to or even exceeding the length of their body. The head is round, the eyes large and watchful, the face short and nude, and often abundantly whiskered. The mouth is large; the ears also large and often fringed, and the neck sometimes clothed, with long hair. They are distinguished from the Tamarins (_Midas_) by having their upper incisor teeth long, narrow, and protruding outwards and forwards; the incisors of the lower jaw are also very long, and its canines small and shorter than the incisors, both being protrusive, as among the Lemurs. The cranial region of the smooth skull is conspicuously large in comparison with its facial portion, but the cerebrum shows a low type of organisation, and indicates a small degree of intelligence in its possessor; it is smooth and almost devoid of convolutions; the cerebrum, too, unlike that of the _Lemuroidea_, completely covers the cerebellum. The orbits are large, and almost completely walled in from the temporal depression behind. The stomach in form resembles that found in the higher groups, but its orifices for the entrance and exit of food are nearer to each other than in any of the other American Monkeys.

The female produces two or three young at a birth, instead of one, as is the general rule among the _Anthropoidea_. The species vary much in coloration, and some of them resemble the Lemurs in being ring-tailed.

{132}The Marmosets are all gentle and playful in disposition, and are, on this account, very largely brought to Europe as pets; but they are very delicate, and rarely survive long in confinement after the advent of the Northern winter. They are arboreal, living in troops, and feeding on insects and fruit, and not disdaining flesh, especially of fishes, when they can obtain it. They emit a characteristic chirping noise.

I. THE COMMON MARMOSET. HAPALE JACCHUS.

_Simia jacchus_, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 40 (1766).

_Jacchus pencillatus_, Geoffr. Ann. Mus., xix., p. 119 (1812); Spix, t. c. p. 34, pl. 26 (1823).

_Jacchus leucocephalus_, Geoffr., t. c. p. 119.

_Jacchus vulgaris_, Geoffr., t. c. p. 119; Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 63 (1870, in part).

_Hapale jacchus_, Kuhl, Beitr., Zool., p. 46 (1820); Schleg., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 271 (1876).

_Hapale albicollis_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., p. 33, pl. 25 (1823); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 59 (1851).

CHARACTERS.--Head small; eyes gentle; nose flat; face black, with a white spot in front; ears naked, with a tuft of long hairs on the front edge of its opening, either black, white, or grey; hair of the sides of the head elongated; back cross-banded with black and grey, the hair at the base dusky, reddish-brown in the middle, grey at the top. Tail banded with black or grey.

Several species have been described under the names of the White-necked Marmoset (_H. albicollis_, Spix), the Black-eared Marmoset (_H. penicillata_, Kuhl), and the White-headed Marmoset (_H. leucocephala_, Kuhl), but Dr. Gray considered these to be only varieties of the common species, which has {133}sometimes the head and neck greyish-white, or the head, neck and ear-tufts black, or the head alone white.

DISTRIBUTION.--Island of Marajo, at the mouth of the Amazon.

HABITS.--The Common Marmoset is an inhabitant of the forests, feeding chiefly on fruits and insects. It is very susceptible to cold, and lives but a short time when removed from the tropics, unless extreme care be taken. Mr. Bates, the author of "The Naturalist on the River Amazons," states that when in Para, he counted in a short time thirteen different species of Monkey in semi-domestication in the city, either at the doors or windows of houses, or in the native canoes. Two of them he did not meet with afterwards in any other part of the country. One of these was the well-known _Hapale jacchus_, a little creature resembling a Kitten, banded with black and grey all over the body and tail, and having a fringe of long white hairs surrounding the ears. It was seated on the shoulder of a young mulatto girl as she was walking about the street, and he was told that it had been captured in the island of Marajo.

II. THE WHITE-SHOULDERED MARMOSET. HAPALE HUMERALIFER.

_Hapale humeralifer_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 120 (1812); Bates, Nat. Amaz., ii., p. 55 (1863).

CHARACTERS.--Face partly naked, flesh-coloured; ears fringed with long white hairs. Fore-part of body white; hands grey; hind part black, with the rump and under side reddish-tawny; tail banded with grey and black; long white hair on the shoulders. Length about 8 inches, exclusive of the tail.

DISTRIBUTION.--Mr. Bates says that this species seems to occur {134}only in the dry woods bordering the Campos in the interior of Brazil.

HABITS.--"One would mistake it," writes Mr. Bates in reference to this rare little Marmoset--the prettiest species of its family--"at first sight for a Kitten, from its small size, varied colours, and the softness of its fur. It was a most timid creature, screaming and biting when anyone attempted to handle it. It became familiar, however, with the people of the house, a few days after it came into their possession. When hungry or uneasy, it uttered a weak querulous cry, a shrill note which was sometimes prolonged so as to resemble the stridulation of a grasshopper."

III. THE WHITE-EARED MARMOSET. HAPALE AURITA.

_Jacchus auritus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 19 (1812).

_Hapale aurita_, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 48 (1820); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 276 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Larger than _Hapale jacchus_; ears naked, external, exposed, with a band of long hairs across the inner surface of the conch, forming a short grey tuft; tail ringed, blackish, the hair minutely punctulated with yellow or red; sides of the head, limbs, and hinder part of body blackish-brown; face more or less white; back blackish, without indication of cross-bands.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.

IV. THE WHITE-FOOTED MARMOSET. HAPALE LEUCOPUS.

_Hapale leucopus_, Günth., P. Z. S., 1876, p. 743, pl. lxxii.

CHARACTERS.--Hair of back and sides moderately long, silky, brownish-grey; nape and occiput darker; face and head covered with short sparse white hair; ears large, naked, and without tufts; throat greyish-brown; under side of body and {135}inside of legs rusty-red; fore-arm, hands, and feet white--the hairs short, blackish or black, with white tips. Head and body, 11½ inches long; tail, 14½ inches. Dorsal and lumbar vertebræ together, 19.

FEMALE.--Similar to the male, but with the hairs of the upper parts silver-tipped.

DISTRIBUTION.--Medellin, in the province of Antioquia, United States of Colombia.

HABITS.--Unknown.

V. THE GOLDEN MARMOSET. HAPALE CHRYSOLEUCA.

_Hapale chrysoleucos_, Wagner in Wiegm. Arch., 1842, i., p. 357; id. in Schreb. Säugeth., Suppl., v., p. 125 (1855); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1869, p. 594.

_Mico sericeus_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1868, p. 256, pl. xxiv.

_Miocella chrysoleucos_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 131 (1870).

_Miocella sericeus_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus. App., p. 131 (1870).

_Hapale chrysoleuca_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 227 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Ears large, naked, exposed, margined with long white hairs. General colour white; limbs, under surface, and tail, uniform greyish-yellow, or reddish-brown in some varieties.

DISTRIBUTION.--Forests of Brazil; vicinity of Borba, on the Rio Madeira.

VI. THE PIGMY MARMOSET. HAPALE PYGMÆA.

_Jacchus pygmæus_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., pl. xxiv., fig. 2 (1823).

_Hapale pygmæa_, Wagner in Schreber, Säugeth., v., p. 126 (1855). Castelnau, Voy. Amér. Sud, pl. 5, figs. 1, 2; Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 277 (1876).

{136}_Cibuella pygmæa_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 64 (1870).

CHARACTERS.--Face with long brown whiskers, naturally brushed back over the ears; ears small, with a few scattered hairs over them, but no ear-tufts, sunk in the long fur of the head. General colour brownish-tawny; tail ringed with black. The young resemble the adults from their earliest days.

This is the most diminutive Monkey known, and measures only six inches in length.

DISTRIBUTION.--Forests of Brazil, extending north into Mexico. Mr. Bates remarks in reference to this species: "I was surprised on my return to England to learn that the Pigmy Marmoset was found also in Mexico, no other Amazonian Monkey being known to wander far from the great river plain. Thus the smallest, and apparently the feeblest, species of the whole order is one which has by some means become the most widely dispersed."

HABITS.--Little or nothing is known of the habits of this individual species, but there is very little doubt that they agree closely with those of the Common Marmoset.

VII. THE BLACK-TAILED MARMOSET. HAPALE MELANURA.

_Simia argentata_, Linn., Syst. Nat., p. 40 (1766), albino var.

_Jacchus melanura_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 120 (1812); Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 734.

_Jacchus argentatus_, Geoffr., t. c. p. 120.

_Hapale melanura_ (nec Kuhl); Wagner in Schreb., Säugeth., i., p. 127, fig. 36 (1840), and Suppl. v., p. 15, fig. 13 (1855); Scl., P. Z. S., 1875, p. 419, pl. l.; Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 267 (1876).

_Midas argentatus_, Bates, Nat. Amaz., i., p. 162 (1863).

{137}_Mico melanurus_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 64 (1870).

_Hapale argentata_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 268 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Face naked, flesh-coloured; ears naked, flesh-coloured, exposed; no ear-pencils, as in _H. chrysoleuca_; tail uniform black; head and fore-limbs pale brown; front of the body paler; front edges of the thighs, and a band across the loins, white. Length, 7 inches, without the tail. Some varieties have the body entirely covered with long, white, silky hairs.

DISTRIBUTION.--Bolivia and Brazil. Mr. Bates says that the Black-tailed Marmoset is one of the rarest of the American Monkeys. He did not hear of its being found anywhere in Amazonia except near Cametá, on the River Tocantins.

HABITS.--Little is known of the habits of this species, few naturalists having had the good fortune to observe it in its native state. Mr. Bates, however, once saw three individuals together, running along a branch, and looking like white Kittens. "I afterwards saw a pet animal," he says in his book, "of this species, and heard that there were many so kept, and that they were esteemed as choice treasures.... It was a most timid and sensitive thing. The woman who owned it carried it constantly in her bosom, and no money would induce her to part with her pet.... The nervous little creature would not permit strangers to touch it. If anyone attempted to do so, it shrank back, the whole body trembling with fear, and its teeth chattered, whilst it uttered its tremulous, frightened tones. The expression of its features was like that of its more robust brother, _Midas ursulus_; the eyes, which were black, were full of curiosity and mistrust, and it always kept them fixed on the person who attempted to advance towards it."

{138}THE TAMARINS. GENUS MIDAS.

_Midas_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 120 (1812).

This genus differs from the preceding only in the characters of some of the teeth. The canine teeth in the lower jaw are longer than their neighbouring incisors; but, as has been pointed out by Prof. St. George Mivart, it is a question whether this generic distinction can be maintained, as an intermediate condition exists in some forms.

For the convenience of description the species of this genus have been divided into two groups--(_a_) those with long hair on the head and neck, and (_b_) those with short hairs on the back of the head. The number of species in the latter group is greater than in the former; and they are further divided into those with, and those without, white lips.

I. THE SILKY TAMARIN. MIDAS ROSALIA.

_Simia rosalia_, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 41, pl. i. (1766).

_Midas rosalia_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 121 (1812).

_Leontopithecus rosalia_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 65 (1870).

_Hapale rosalia_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 250 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--This is the first species of the long-whiskered and maned group; fur soft and silky; tail equal in length to the body, bushy at the tip; hair round the face and on the back of the neck very long, forming a conspicuous ruff. Face, hands, and feet purple; general colour of the hair golden yellow, more or less red, and glossy.

These animals are said to possess an air-sac in the throat, at the back of the _trachea_ (or windpipe), as in _Ateles_. Length, 11 inches; tail, 12 inches.

{139}DISTRIBUTION.--The Silky Tamarin is found in the forests of South-eastern Brazil, in the coastal forests of New Granada, and as far north as the Isthmus of Panama.

HABITS.--The "Marakina," as this exceedingly beautiful species is often called, lives in small troops, ascending to the slender branches at the tops of the highest trees in the forest. The species is very playful and intelligent.

Closely related to the Silky Tamarin, if indeed it is really distinct from it, is the Maned Tamarin (_M. leoninus_, of Humboldt), which inhabits the same region, and is only seven inches in length, exclusive of the tail. "It is named _leoninus_," remarks Mr. Bates, "on account of the long brown mane which depends from the neck, and which gives it very much the appearance of a diminutive Lion." In referring to their intelligence, the same writer continues, "Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire relates of a species of this genus, that it distinguished between different objects depicted on an engraving. M. Audouin showed it the portraits of a cat and a wasp; at these it became much terrified, whereas at the sight of a figure of a grasshopper or beetle it precipitated itself on the picture as if to seize the objects there represented."

Another species, the Golden-headed Tamarin (_M. chrysomelas_, of Kuhl), which is in general colour black, with the head, fore-arms, hands, and a line beneath the tail, golden-yellow, is, according to Dr. Gray, "very like a melanism of _Leontopithecus_ (= _Midas_) _rosalia_; but the hands and feet, which are sometimes blackish in that species, are yellow--that is to say, not changed."

II. GEOFFROY'S TAMARIN. MIDAS GEOFFROYI.

_Midas oedipus_, var. Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., p. 30, pl. 23 (1823).

{140}_Hapale geoffroyi_, Pucher., Rev. Zool., 1845, p. 336; Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 258 (1876).

_Midas geoffroyi_, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 63 (1851); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1871, p. 478, pl. xxxviii.

_Midas ursulus_ (nec Geoffr.), Rep. Council Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 16.

_Oedipus geoffroyi_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 65 (1870).

(_Plate XIII._)

CHARACTERS.--Face black; a patch on the top of the head white; back of neck and shoulders, lower part of back, and upper side of base of tail rusty-brown; ears, back, outer side of arms and thighs, and outer side of upper part of leg, brownish-grey; throat, under surface of body, outer and inner surface of fore-arms and legs, white; remainder of tail black.

Hair on the crown of the head short, forming a narrow oblong patch; that on the nape of the neck elongated.

DISTRIBUTION.--At present only known from Panama.

HABITS.--Unknown.

III. THE PINCHÉ MONKEY. MIDAS OEDIPUS.

_Simia oedipus_, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 41 (1766); Audeb. Singes, Fam. vi., Sect, ii., pl. iv fig. 2. (1727).

_Midas oedipus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 122 (1812).

_Oedipus titi_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 65 (1870).

_Hapale oedipus_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 258 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Face and sides of head nearly naked; top of head with large, erect, crest; hair of neck elongated; tail not ringed.

General colour greyish-brown; outside of limbs and base of tail, washed with rusty-red; crest, throat, and lower surface of body, fore-limbs and front edge of hind-limbs white; extremity of the tail black.

PLATE XIII.

{141}Differs from the preceding species, _M. geoffroyi_, in having a crest.

DISTRIBUTION.--The Pinché Monkey is found in the forests of New Granada, near the coast.

With the succeeding species we commence the description of the Tamarins which have no conspicuous mane on the back of the neck, and that section whose members have a patch of white hairs around the mouth, each looking at a short distance, as Mr. Bates remarks, "as though it held a ball of snow-white cotton in its teeth."

IV. THE WHITE-LIPPED TAMARIN. MIDAS LABIATUS.

_Midas labiatus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 121 (1812); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 66 (1870).

_Jacchus labiatus_, Desmarest, Mammalog., p. 95 (1820); Humb., Rec. d'Obs. Zool., Prod. sp. 44 (1811).

_Hapale labiata_, Wagner in Schreb., Säugeth., i., p. 246 (1840); Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 260 (1876, part).

CHARACTERS.--General colour black; under side reddish, the black terminating on the front of the chest in a straight line, the hinder part of the back washed with grey; the hinder part of the chest, belly, inside of the limbs, and the under side of the root of the tail, rust-colour; tip of nose and edges of upper and lower lips white.

DISTRIBUTION.--The forests on the north side of the Amazon.

{142}V. THE RED-BELLIED TAMARIN. MIDAS RUFIVENTER.

_Midas rufiventer_, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H., xii., p. 398 (1843); id. P. Z. S., 1865, p. 735; id. Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 66 (1870).

_Midas elegantulus_, Slack, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad., 1861, p. 463.

_Hapale labiata_ (nec Geoffr.), Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 260 (part).

CHARACTERS.--Head, throat, fore-limbs, tail, and hands deep glossy black; hairs of back, sides, and posterior limbs black, broadly tipped with white, not regularly ringed; belly, breast and inner surface of limbs bright brick-red, separated by a distinct line from the black of the back and outer surface of the limbs. On the back of the head a small patch of the same colour as the back; on the top of the head a golden-yellow triangular patch. Lips and tip of the nose, white.

This species is distinguished from the White-lipped Tamarin (_M. labiatus_) by the spot on the crown and nape; and by the rufous of the under side extending forward nearer to the throat.

DISTRIBUTION.--Banks of the Upper Amazon. Mr. Bates shot a specimen at Tunantins in 69° W. long., and 4° S. lat.

HABITS.--Nothing is known of the habits of this species.

Closely allied to the Red-bellied Tamarin is the so-called MOUSTACHED TAMARIN (_Midas mystax_, Spix), in which the head, shoulders, and tail are black; the body above brown, sometimes ringed with white, and the belly bright rust-coloured. It can be distinguished, as Dr. Slack points out, from _M. rufiventer_, by the want of the ashy tips to the hairs of the back {143}and posterior limbs, and the triangular golden spot on the vertex. The hairs of this spot are golden throughout their entire length, in this respect resembling another closely related Upper Amazonian species, the so-called BONNETED TAMARIN (_M. pileatus_, Is. Geoffr.), from which it can readily be distinguished by the black colour of the under surface. The back of the Bonneted Tamarin is also varied, black and grey, the limbs and tail are blackish, and the lips white.

VI. DEVILLE'S TAMARIN. MIDAS WEDDELLI.

_Midas weddellii_, Deville, Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1849, p. 55.

_Midas devillii_, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 64 (1851); Castelnau, Expéd. Amér. Sud, Mamm., pl. vi., fig. 2 (1855); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 67 (1870).

_Midas leucogenys_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 735; id. Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 67 (1870).

_Hapale devillei_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 262 (1876).

_Hapale weddelii_, Schl., t. c. p. 262.

CHARACTERS.--Fur of back ringed with grey; that of the head, neck, and front of the fore- and hind-limbs, tail, hands, and feet black; loins, thighs, legs, and base of tail bright maroon.

DISTRIBUTION.--Obtained by MM. Castelnau and Deville, at Sarayacu, in the Peruvian Amazons.

VII. THE BLACK-FRONTED TAMARIN. MIDAS NIGRIFRONS.

_Midas nigrifrons_, Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 64 (1851).

_Midas flavifrons_, var. c. _Midas nigrifrons_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 67 (1870).

_Hapale nigrifrons_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 263 (1876).

{144}CHARACTERS.--Differs from _M. weddelli_ in having the fur washed with rufous, and the hairs finely ringed.

DISTRIBUTION.--Unknown.

VIII. THE BROWN-HEADED TAMARIN. MIDAS FUSCICOLLIS.

_Midas fuscicollis_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., p. 27, pl. 20 (1823).

_Midas flavifrons_, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 64 (1851); Castelnau, Expéd. Amér. Sud, Mamm., pl. vi., fig. 1 (1855); Gray, Cat. Monkeys, Brit. Mus., p. 67 (1870).

_Midas devillii_ (nec Is. Geoffr.), Slack, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad., 1861, p. 464.

_Hapale fuscicollis_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 264 (1876).

_Hapale chrysomelas_ (nec Kuhl), Schl., t. c. p. 254.

CHARACTERS.--Pelage mostly black; head and face brown or reddish-brown, with some grey hairs; lips white, but the nose black; top of the head yellow, or yellowish-red; back yellow and black; hands and feet black; outside of the limbs and base of the tail reddish; under side of the body and inside of the limbs brownish-red.

The female differs in having the outside of the limbs and the underpart of the body blackish.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.