Schneider’s Marmoset Found in Brazilian Amazon: Will This Discovery Help With Conservation Initiative as Population of the Said Species Decreases?

In the Brazilian Amazon, a team of researchers recently found a new marmoset species, specifically the Mico schneideri or Schneider's marmoset.

According to Phys.org, this species, described in the new study, is named after a pioneer and major contributor to the study of diversity and evolution of monkey Horacio Scheider.

This discovery was made by a research team led by Rodrigo Costa Araujo, an associate researcher at Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi. The Conservation Leadership Programme or CLP financially backed Araujo, a capacity-building alliance between the Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna and Flora International or FFI, and BirdLife International.

Essentially, according to a similar Mirage News report, the genus Mico's Amazon marmosets are among the more diverse monkey groups. More so, they are found only in the endangered forests of the "arc of deforestation," an area that accounts for 50 percent of the worldwide land use in the last three decades.

ALSO READ: 3 Wild Instances of Evolution Replicating Itself

'Mico Munduruku'

As specified in this report, no conservation initiative addresses habitat losses; as the population decreases, such marmosets are subjected to, mainly because they are not well examined.

Furthermore, the total number of Amazon marmoset species stays unknown. About two years ago, Araujo and his team found that the Mico munduruku or Munduruku marmoset from another site within the arc of deforestation.

Schneider marmoset was described from marmosets that researchers have known since the mid-1990s, although they had been misidentified as "M. emiliae."

The study, An integrative analysis uncovers a new, pseudo-cryptic species of Amazonian marmoset (Primates: Callitrichidae: Mico) from the arc of deforestation, published in Scientific Reports, noted that the presence of 16 Mico species found in the ark of deforestation, a large region located in the Southern Amazon, were said to be the highest rates of fires and land clearing are concentrated.

As indicated in this report, further research is needed to analyze the status of the conservation of M. schneideri and to examine it's the southern part of its geographical delivery.

In addition, revealing exactly how many Amazon marmosets are occupying these forests will reinforce the initial step headed for the conservation of this threatened group of monkeys.

Marmosets

According to Animals.NET, there are 22 different marmoset species that come in various colors and shapes. Some of these species have mainly black fur, while others, with brown, grey, white, cream, gold, or tan color.

Many other species have long tufts of hair surrounding their ears. Such primates grow only to roughly eight inches in length, averagely.

Marmosets' tails are typically as long as, or even longer than their bodies, in most cases. It is not unusual for an individual to reach 12 inches in length. And when it comes to weight, they may weigh roughly 30 ounces at their heaviest.

Two interesting facts about these primates include their being considered the smallest monkey species and that most South American monkeys lack limbs.

Specifically, the pygmy Marmoset is the tiniest monkey species all over the world. At their biggest size, these little animals grow only five inches long.

Lastly, most monkeys in South America have "prehensile tails" that they can use as their fifth limb to grasp branches.

Related information about marmosets is shown on Real Wild's YouTube video below:

RELATED ARTICLE: Japan's Snow Monkeys' Onsen Practice Reduces Stress

Check out more news and information on Monkeys on Science Times.