Common Marmoset

Our cute little marmosets are one of our visitors favourites here at Tynemouth Aquarium as they are always up to mischief. Found exclusively in the wild in the forests of Brazil these sociable creatures tend to hang around in big groups. They are very active through the day time but during the night find shelter inside tree holes as this will help shield them from adverse weather and keep them safe from any bigger predators.

Like humans, common marmosets change skin tone in the sun, however their fur is a mixture of grey brown and yellow sprinkles. What really makes these little guys stand out are the tufts of white hair that sprouts from their ears and their long banded tail which allows them to manoeuvre around the amazing Amazon with ease.

Female marmosets have great eyesight and can see colour the exact same as us, however males suffer from colour blindness. They can get muddled up with green, brown orange and red. Marmosets often communicate with high pitched chirps and facial expressions but display their emotions with eyelid movements and ear twitches. Their mating call is very specific and sounds much different to the rest of the noises that they produce.

Marmosets are like many other primates when it comes to parenting their off spring, whilst the mothers are pregnant the father begin to bulk and prepare to carry the child. Once the baby arrives the father will carry and respond to the infant, with the mothers only purpose now to feed them. Although they have suffered some destruction to their natural habitat, they still continue to have a strong wild population and have been expanding into different areas around Brazil.