Callithrix kuhlii, Coimbra-Filho, 1985

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Callitrichiade, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 262-346 : 318-319

21 .

Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset

Callithrix kuhlii

French: Ouistiti de Kuhl / German: Kuhl-Blschelaffchen / Spanish: Titi de orejas negras

Other common names: Wied's Marmoset

Taxonomy. Callithrix kuhlii Coimbra-Filho, 1985 ,

Brazil, Rio Belmonte (= Rio Jequitinhonha), southern Bahia .

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. E Brazil between the Rio de Contas and Rio Jequitinhonha in S Bahia State, just entering the NE tip of Minas Gerais State.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 20-23 cm, tail 29-33 cm; weight 350-400 g. Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset has black pre-auricular tufts and a white patch in the middle of the forehead. Its cheeks and throat are pale grayish-beige to pale brown. Its back is striped, outer thighs are reddish brown, and the tail is ringed. There is a reddish-brown coloration to the base of the hairs on some parts of the body, especially on the outside of the thighs. Hands, arms, feet, and legs are very dark, almost black. The crown is black in juveniles but pale grayish-beige in adults. The pencil-like ear tufts are black, long, and less dense than those of the Black-tufted-ear Marmoset ( C. penicillata ). Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset differs from the Common Marmoset ( C. jacchus ) in being darker overall, with the conspicuous reddish-brown showing through the blackish (variously white-flecked) pelage ofits thighs and flanks.

Habitat. Coastal evergreen and (inland) mesophytic forest of the Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia, Brazil. Cacao is cultivated in the easterly, more coastal part of the distribution of Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset. It can occupy secondary forests and cacao plantations where many of the taller trees of the forest are left standing to provide shade—an agroforestry system known as “cabruca.” It also occupies old, abandoned rubber plantations, dense in secondary growth. Near the coast, it occupies arboreal “restinga” (sandy soil forest), characterized by the abundant, endemic piacava palm (Attaleafunifera). In the humid coastal forest, there is no distinct seasonality, with more than 100-200 mm of rainfall every month.

Food and Feeding. Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset eats fruits, flowers, nectar, gums, and small animal prey, including insects, spiders, snails, lizards, and frogs. During three months (August—-October) at Una, Bahia, fruit comprised 63-69-5% of the plant part of the diet, exudates 30-5-34%, and flowers 3%, eaten only in August. Feeding on animal prey contributed 12-15% of the diet in the three months. In June-November, Wied'’s Black-tufted-ear Marmoset ate from 17 plants in eleven families, and six species of pioneer Melastomataceae —common and clumped in secondary growth and edge habitats and providing abundant small, sweet fruits—were the most important: Henriettea succosa in June-July, Miconia dodecandra and M. hypoloeuca and a third unidentified species in August—-October, and another unidentified Miconia in November. Fruits of an unidentified species of Myrtaceae and Pourouma velutina (Urticaceae) were also important in October-November. The red flowers and nectar of Symphonia globulifera (Guttiferae) were significant parts of the diet in July-August. Gums were eaten from ten plant species, including species of Inga (Fabaceae) and Anacardium (Anacardiaceae) . Their principal source of gum was the giant emergent Parkia pendula ( Fabaceae ); they gouged its trunks and branches and also ate the abundant gum exuded from large hanging seed pods. Gum of P. pendula ranked second in the plant part of the diet in August—October, making up 23-28% of the feeding records each month. Foraging for animal prey by Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmosets involves largely foliagegleaning, stealth, stalk and pounce, and searching on leaves and along branches in dense vegetation and vine tangles—typical of other species of Callithrix . Occasionally, they rummage through debris and accumulations ofleaflitter, but they do not forage in epiphytic tank bromeliads as do sympatric Golden-headed Lion Tamarins ( Leontopithecus chrysomelas ). Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmosets accompany army ants ( Labidus praedator and sometimes Eciton rapax), moving in front of the swarms and going to the ground to capture fleeing insects and spiders from the leaflitter. Snails are eaten by first biting the apex of the shell. They will also eat plant galls from undersides of the leaves of Platycentrum clidemioides ( Melastomataceae ), biting off the galls and extracting the larvae with their hands and mouth. Principal larger prey include orthopterans ( Tettigoniidae and Acrididae ), coleopteran adults and larvae, stick insects ( Phasmidae ), spiders, and frogs.

Breeding. At the Una Biological Reserve in Bahia State, infants (births) were recorded in November—February. Usually only one female in each group breeds, but rarely two breed. Demographic and reproductive data for a captive population showed that gestation is c.143 days, ovulatory cycles are c.25 days, ovulation occurs 13-14 days after parturition, intervals between six births averaged 156 days, the average age of first reproduction was 2-7 years for males and 3-3 years for females, and youngest age to sire or conceive infants was one year for males and 1-4 years for females.

Activity patterns. In a three-month study near the town of Una, a group of Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmosets spent 38% of their time moving, 25% foraging for animal prey, 20% feeding on plant foods, 3% feeding on animal prey, and 14% resting and engaging in social activities. The group spent 78% ofits time below 15 m above ground and 53% of its time at heights of 8-15 m. Individuals foraged mostly in the dense vegetation of the middle strata and lower canopy of the forest, 11-16 m above the ground. Occasionally, they went to the ground to search for prey. Wied’s Black-tuftedear Marmosets are active for 10-11 hours/day; their activities begin 30-45 minutes after sunrise and end 1-1-5 hours before sunset. Fruit eating peaks in early morning and mid-afternoon. Resting bouts by the whole group occur throughout the day but tended to be more frequent and prolonged in the middle of the day. Time spent foraging for animal prey increases during the day but gradually decreases through mid- to late afternoon. Fourteen sleeping sites recorded in the study included dense liana tangles in low bushy vegetation (8-9 m above the ground), tall tree crowns (15-25 m above the ground), and low trees with dense crowns (10-15 m above the ground).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Eight groups of Wied’s Black-tuftedear Marmosets near the town of Una contained 5-9 individuals (mean 6-6); all groups had two or more adults, four of them with two adult males. Another eight groups monitored over four years in the Una Biological Reserve had 2-6 individuals (mean 4-2); six of them with two adult males. Larger groups were seen elsewhere with up to 16 individuals. Adult males and adult females will leave their natal groups to disperse to other groups. A case was recorded where two adult males split off from a group and, after two months, joined two other individuals to form a new group; one them was an adult female that gave birth to twins five months later. At Una, their densities were 8:7-9-7 groups/km?.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Wied’s Black-tufted-ear Marmosets occur in Serra das Lontras National Park, Una Biological Reserve, Canavieiras Extractive Reserve, and Itacaré-Serra Grande Environmental Protection Area. Boa Nova National Park and Boa Nova Wildlife Refuge are in the far west of its distribution.

Bibliography. Coimbra-Filho (1985b), Coimbra-Filho et al. (2006), Fite et al. (2003), French, Brewer et al. (1996), French, Schaffner et al. (1995), Mittermeier, Rylands & Coimbra-Filho (1988), Natori (1990), Oliver & Santos (1991), Puffer et al. (2004), Raboy et al. (2008), Ross et al. (2007), Rylands (1982, 1984, 1989a, 1996), Rylands & de Faria (1993), Rylands, Coimbra-Filho & Mittermeier (1993, 2009), Rylands, da Fonseca et al. (1996), Rylands, Spironelo et al. (1988), Santos et al. (1987), Schaffner & French (1997, 2004), Schaffner et al. (1995), Smith et al. (1997), Stevenson & Rylands (1988).

Figures

On following pages 19 Buffy-headed Marrnoset (Cal/:rhnx flawcepsá 20 Geoffroy s Tuftedear Mamıoset (Ca/Iırhnx gooflroyı), 21 Wıed s Black tufted-ear Mannoset (Callıthrıx kuhlıı), 22 Block-tufted-ear Marmoset (Callnhnx penıcıllata) 23 Common Mannoset (Calhthnx ¡aochusf

Distribution. E Brazil between the Rio de Contas and Rio Jequitinhonha in S Bahia State, just entering the NE tip of Minas Gerais State.