Size: Length; 21-28cm (without tail). Weight; 400-500g.

Habitat and Distribution: Found in wooded areas along rivers in northern Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Venezuela and Surinam.

Age: Up to 10 years in the wild, 15 in captivity but one individual has been recorded living to 21 years old.

Groups and Breeding: They live in cooperative groups of 4-15 individuals (typically six), with most adults being unrelated. Only a single female in the group will breed with one or two males and the rest of the adults are suppressed. Gestation lasts 140-170 days and twins are typical. The entire group will assist in the raising of young, with the father taking on a large part of the rearing, while the mother only nurses the young.

Diet: Fruit and insects form the majority of their diet but they will also take flowers, lizards, frogs and nectar.

• They are fantastic jumpers and can leap distances of over 18 metres - 90 times their own body length!
• In times of food shortages, siblings will often fight for food; it has been found that brothers and sisters fight more and that the worst offenders were those going through puberty.
• Red-handed Tamarins have claws on every digit except their big toes.
• This tamarin is also known as the Midas Tamarin due to its golden coloured hands.
• This is a highly territorial species and if a member of a group is threatened all of the others will rush to its defence, using teeth, claws, hissing and scent marking to protect it.