Infant-care behavior of mothers and fathers in a communal-care primate, the cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus).

Infant care behavior was examined for 35 litters of 23 different groups of captive cotton-top tamarins. The behavior of mothers and fathers was compared to determine the effects of infant number and helper presence on each parent and to determine whether parents differed in responsiveness to infants. For young infants (1-4 weeks), the contribution of fathers to infant carrying was negatively correlated with helpers' contribution; as helpers carried more, fathers carried less.

Effect of various biological factors on spontaneous marmoset and tamarin colitis. A retrospective histopathologic study.

Histological sections of colons from 69 tamarins (46 Saguinus oedipus and 23 Saguinus fuscicollis illigeri) and 27 marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) that died between 1979 and 1984 were examined for colitis. Evaluated biological factors were species, age at death, source of animals, manner of death, presence of colon cancer, and time after importation. Most normal colons were found in young animals (dead at less than 1 years of age).

Comparison of infant care in family groups of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and the cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus).

The involvement of parents and siblings in infant care in similarly composed groups of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) was compared during the infants' first 8 weeks of life. The results indicate an earlier infant independence in C. jacchus than in S.