The golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia; Portuguese: mico-leão-dourado [ˈmiku leˈɐ̃w do(w)ˈɾadu, - liˈɐ̃w -]), less commonly known as the golden lion marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Endemic to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is an endangered species. Its geographic range is entirely within the state of Rio de Janeiro. A 2022/2023 census estimated about 4,800 individuals living in the current primary area of occurrence in the non-coastal area of the São João and Macaé river basins, with unknown but smaller additional numbers in limited coastal forests and to the west of the primary area of occurrence. There is a captive population maintaining about 490 individuals among 150 zoos.
Physical characteristics
The golden lion tamarin gets its name from its bright reddish-orange pelage and the extra-long hairs around the face and ears, which give it a distinctive mane. Its face is dark and hairless. The bright orange fur of this species does not contain carotenoids, which commonly produce bright orange colors in nature. The golden lion tamarin is the largest of the callitrichid monkeys. It is typically around 261 mm (10.3 in) and weighs around 620 g (1.37 lb). Almost no size difference exists between males and females. As with all callitrichids, the golden lion tamarin has claw-like nails, instead of the flat nails found in other monkeys and apes, although callitrichids do have a flat nail on the big toe. Golden lion tamarins walk, run, and bound quadrupedally on top of branches, or, less frequently, they run and walk on the ground. When golden lion tamarins run or bound, their hindlimbs alternately overstride their forelimbs, and their feet are set atop the support and grasp it almost perpendicular to the line of travel, making the body's angle of travel oblique rather than precisely parallel to the substrate, a pattern known as "transaxial bounding". In addition, facilitated by their claw-like nails, golden lion tamarins cling and climb on vertical tree trunks (see photographs in Serra (2019), pp 108–117, 137, 155).
Habitat and distribution The golden lion tamarin has a limited current area of occupancy, as most of the original habitat in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro has been lost to deforestation. Today, the species is confined to fragments of forest within the state, including Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, União Biological Reserve, other protected areas, and privately owned lands. Most of the area of occupancy is characterized by vegetation types classified as dense broadleaf evergreen or seasonal deciduous and semideciduous forest, with some tamarins living in areas closest to the coast found in a sandy soil forest type called "arboreal restinga". Golden lion tamarins are thought to occur primarily in low-elevation forests, up to 150 or 300 meters above sea level, but a 1990–1992 survey identified two groups above 500 meters, and reports from the recently identified western geographic area include records above 700 meters. Golden lion tamarin population estimates in the 1960s and 1970s ranged from only 100 to 600, although these estimates were not based on range-wide censuses. The first such census, carried out 1990–1992, counted about 560 wild individuals and there were about 100 additional individuals from the reintroduction program living in the wild. Since then, following conservation efforts including reintroduction of zoo-born animals and translocation of wild individuals from small, at-risk forest fragments (both largely to areas then unoccupied by tamarins), reforestation with a particular focus on connecting separated areas of habitat, and community-based conservation and engagement programs, the population has grown significantly. Most recently, a 2022-23 census estimated about 4,800 golden lion tamarins living in the current primary area of occurrence in the noncoastal area of the São João and Macaé River basins, with unknown but smaller additional numbers in limited coastal forests and to the west of the primary area of occurrence.
Behaviour and ecology
Diet In the wild, golden lion tamarins eat mostly fruits and small animal prey, in addition to smaller quantities of nectar and plant exudates (tree gum).
Plant material Fruits, mostly ripe, are the plant part consumed by golden lion tamarins for more than 80% of plant species eaten. Tamarins swallow the seeds of most fruits they consume and are considered to function as effective seed dispersers for many plant species. Wild golden lion tamarins eat from a wide variety of plant species, with 160 species noted in one multiple-group study. Despite this variety of food plants, they appear to get most of their plant food from a smaller subset of species. For example, just seven of the 160 plant species noted eaten by golden lion tamarins in the União Biological Reserve accounted for 56% of total plant feeding observations. The most common reported source of nectar in golden lion tamarin diets are the flowers of the tree Symphonia globulifera. Nectar consumption typically represents a small proportion of the plant diet (6%-10% of observations or time), but some groups may concentrate heavily on nectar during the cool, dry season in at least some years. Exudates or tree gum are soft, semiliquid substances produced by trees and lianas in response to damage to exterior bark or to disease. Golden lion tamarins in the Poço das Antas Reserve fed occasionally on tree gum that they found opportunistically on trees and woody lianas, and gum consumption represented less than 2% of total feeding observations or time. Lion tamarins (and other tamarins) lack the dentition and other specializations for gum-feeding characteristic of marmoset genera, e.g., Callithrix and Cebuella.
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