Status: Least Concern

Geographic Region
The Red-Handed Tamarin lives in northern Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, and Surinam.

Habitat
Rainforest

Physical Description
The face is black with long hairs. It does not have the whitish fur around the mouth that is characteristic of other tamarins in the long-tusked tamarin group. The body is also black, except for the hands and feet, which are orange-red or yellow. There are claws on all digits except for the big toe, which has the flattened nail characteristic of primates. Also, the thumb lacks a saddle joint and is not opposable.

Reproduction
The young are cared for by all adult members of a group, with males and other females assisting at birth and caring for the young when they are not being suckled. There is usually only one breeding female and two or more breeding males in a group. One, usually two, or rarely three young are born after a gestation lasting 140-145 days. Females nurse their young for two to three months.

Diet: Omnivore
Like most tamarins, the red-handed tamarin eats mainly insects, ripe fruit, and plant exudates such as sap, gum, and resin. It also includes nectar, tender vegetation, spiders, small vertebrates, and birds' eggs in its diet. Prey is killed with a bite to the head.

Behavior
Red-handed tamarins live in groups of two to six, consisting of mixed ages and both sexes. They are active by day and hold a territory of approximately ten hectares. Within the group, there is little intragroup aggression (even among breeding males) and much cooperation and tolerance. They are mostly arboreal, leaping from tree to tree or tree to ground, and have been known to make leaps from as high as 20m to the ground without any sign of injury.

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