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The Cottontop Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), also known as the Pinché Tamarin, is a small New World monkey weighing less than 1lb (0.5 kg). It is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests where it is arboreal and diurnal. The Cottontop Tamarin eats fruit, insects, new leaves or buds, small lizards and nectar. It is called "Liszt Monkey" in German due to its supposed resemblance to the composer Franz Liszt.
Groups of Cottontop Tamarins usually include 3 - 9 individuals. Group members are not necessarily all related. In addition to a dominant mated pair and their young, there may be transient individuals, probably young animals of both sexes. The home ranges of adjacent groups overlap. Like most tamarins the Cottontop Tamarin usually gives birth to twins.
Up to the 1980s, the Cottontop Tamarin was thought to occur from Costa Rica south to northern Colombia. By 1992 it could be found only in northern Colombia. Significant exports for biomedical research contributed to the Cottontop Tamarin's decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Currently, deforestation is the greatest threat.
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