Part 29

THE MARMOSETS. GENUS HAPALE.

Hapale, Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm., p. 71 (1811).

The members of this genus, which are often kept in captivity as pets, are very small animals, covered with thick and silky fur, and having bushy tails, equal to or even exceeding the length of their body. The head is round, the eyes large and watchful, the face short and nude, and often abundantly whiskered. The mouth is large; the ears also large and often fringed, and the neck sometimes clothed, with long hair. They are distinguished from the Tamarins (Midas) by having their upper incisor teeth long, narrow, and protruding outwards and forwards; the incisors of the lower jaw are also very long, and its canines small and shorter than the incisors, both being protrusive, as among the Lemurs. The cranial region of the smooth skull is conspicuously large in comparison with its facial portion, but the cerebrum shows a low type of organisation, and indicates a small degree of intelligence in its possessor; it is smooth and almost devoid of convolutions; the cerebrum, too, unlike that of the Lemuroidea, completely covers the cerebellum. The orbits are large, and almost completely walled in from the temporal depression behind. The stomach in form resembles that found in the higher groups, but its orifices for the entrance and exit of food are nearer to each other than in any of the other American Monkeys.

The female produces two or three young at a birth, instead of one, as is the general rule among the Anthropoidea. The species vary much in coloration, and some of them resemble the Lemurs in being ring-tailed.

{132}The Marmosets are all gentle and playful in disposition, and are, on this account, very largely brought to Europe as pets; but they are very delicate, and rarely survive long in confinement after the advent of the Northern winter. They are arboreal, living in troops, and feeding on insects and fruit, and not disdaining flesh, especially of fishes, when they can obtain it. They emit a characteristic chirping noise.

I. THE COMMON MARMOSET. HAPALE JACCHUS.

Simia jacchus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 40 (1766).

Jacchus pencillatus, Geoffr. Ann. Mus., xix., p. 119 (1812); Spix, t. c. p. 34, pl. 26 (1823).

Jacchus leucocephalus, Geoffr., t. c. p. 119.

Jacchus vulgaris, Geoffr., t. c. p. 119; Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 63 (1870, in part).

Hapale jacchus, Kuhl, Beitr., Zool., p. 46 (1820); Schleg., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 271 (1876).

Hapale albicollis, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Bras., p. 33, pl. 25 (1823); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 59 (1851).

CHARACTERS.--Head small; eyes gentle; nose flat; face black, with a white spot in front; ears naked, with a tuft of long hairs on the front edge of its opening, either black, white, or grey; hair of the sides of the head elongated; back cross-banded with black and grey, the hair at the base dusky, reddish-brown in the middle, grey at the top. Tail banded with black or grey.

Several species have been described under the names of the White-necked Marmoset (H. albicollis, Spix), the Black-eared Marmoset (H. penicillata, Kuhl), and the White-headed Marmoset (H. leucocephala, Kuhl), but Dr. Gray considered these to be only varieties of the common species, which has {133}sometimes the head and neck greyish-white, or the head, neck and ear-tufts black, or the head alone white.

DISTRIBUTION.--Island of Marajo, at the mouth of the Amazon.

HABITS.--The Common Marmoset is an inhabitant of the forests, feeding chiefly on fruits and insects. It is very susceptible to cold, and lives but a short time when removed from the tropics, unless extreme care be taken. Mr. Bates, the author of "The Naturalist on the River Amazons," states that when in Para, he counted in a short time thirteen different species of Monkey in semi-domestication in the city, either at the doors or windows of houses, or in the native canoes. Two of them he did not meet with afterwards in any other part of the country. One of these was the well-known Hapale jacchus, a little creature resembling a Kitten, banded with black and grey all over the body and tail, and having a fringe of long white hairs surrounding the ears. It was seated on the shoulder of a young mulatto girl as she was walking about the street, and he was told that it had been captured in the island of Marajo.

II. THE WHITE-SHOULDERED MARMOSET. HAPALE HUMERALIFER.

Hapale humeralifer, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 120 (1812); Bates, Nat. Amaz., ii., p. 55 (1863).

CHARACTERS.--Face partly naked, flesh-coloured; ears fringed with long white hairs. Fore-part of body white; hands grey; hind part black, with the rump and under side reddish-tawny; tail banded with grey and black; long white hair on the shoulders. Length about 8 inches, exclusive of the tail.

DISTRIBUTION.--Mr. Bates says that this species seems to occur {134}only in the dry woods bordering the Campos in the interior of Brazil.

HABITS.--"One would mistake it," writes Mr. Bates in reference to this rare little Marmoset--the prettiest species of its family--"at first sight for a Kitten, from its small size, varied colours, and the softness of its fur. It was a most timid creature, screaming and biting when anyone attempted to handle it. It became familiar, however, with the people of the house, a few days after it came into their possession. When hungry or uneasy, it uttered a weak querulous cry, a shrill note which was sometimes prolonged so as to resemble the stridulation of a grasshopper."

III. THE WHITE-EARED MARMOSET. HAPALE AURITA.

Jacchus auritus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 19 (1812).

Hapale aurita, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 48 (1820); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 276 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Larger than Hapale jacchus; ears naked, external, exposed, with a band of long hairs across the inner surface of the conch, forming a short grey tuft; tail ringed, blackish, the hair minutely punctulated with yellow or red; sides of the head, limbs, and hinder part of body blackish-brown; face more or less white; back blackish, without indication of cross-bands.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.

IV. THE WHITE-FOOTED MARMOSET. HAPALE LEUCOPUS.

Hapale leucopus, Günth., P. Z. S., 1876, p. 743, pl. lxxii.