THE LION MARMOSET 



(Midas rosalia) 



THIS little Monkey, whose extreme beauty attracts the admiration of 

 every one, whether in the ordinary way they like Monkeys or not, is 

 not very much larger than an English Squirrel, and resembles that 

 animal in having the feet in the form of " paws," furnished with sharp 

 curved claws, and with the thumb and great toe not opposable, so that 

 they do not in the least resemble the hands fore and hind of 

 ordinary monkeys, except with regard to the great toe really small 

 in this animal which has the nail usual in monkeys. There are no 

 seat-pads or cheek-pouches, and the teeth are only thirty-two in 

 number. This is the same as that found in the Old World monkeys, 

 but the arrangement is not quite identical, these animals having two 

 pre-molars and three molars on each side of each jaw, whereas in 

 the Marmosets the reverse is the case. The tail in the Lion Marmoset 

 is long and inclined to be bushy, but is not prehensile. The ordinary 

 name of the animal is derived from the long mane which surrounds 

 its quaint little face, but it is also known as the Silky Tamarin, 

 owing to the glossy texture of its fur. 



The beautiful colour of the coat is common to both sexes, but 

 varies a good deal individually, some being much more brilliant than 

 others. I have seen one specimen which was quite orange all over, 

 though as a rule the darker shade is confined to the under-parts. 



The present species is one of the most widely-ranging of the 

 Marmosets, being found from the Isthmus of Panama to South-eastern 

 Brazil and New Granada. It is a forest animal, and keeps to the 

 tops of the highest trees, where it lives in small troops. Its food 

 consists of fruit, insects, and such small birds as it can capture. As, 

 in captivity, it likes to have a box to retire into, it presumably sleeps 



