Six Weird-looking Primates

A primate is a member of the biological order Primates which include lemurs, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes.  Primates range in size from the Pygmy Mouse Lemur which weighs only 1 to 4 oz (30 to 109 g) to the 200 kg (440 lb) Mountain Gorilla. They exhibit different characteristics and come in a wide range of colors from white to brown to black. Each order of classification also varies, many of them looking common or ordinary  but a great number also appear as odd-looking.

White-faced Saki

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Feeding mostly on fruits and sometimes nuts, seeds and insects, the White-faced Saki (Pithecia pithecia), is a species of saki monkey found in the savannas and marsh forests in the countries of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. These tree-living primates are fast moving and shy and usually make bird-chirping sounds and display aggression by body-shaking, arched posture and loud growl. The species display obvious sexual dimorphism with females having shorter hair than males. Males have blacker pelage, with reddish-white forehead, face and throat and females with brownish-grey fur and white or pale brown stripes around the corners of the nose and mouth.

Cottontop Tamarin

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Also known as Pinché Tamarins, Cottontop Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) are among the smallest of the primates weighing less than a pound (0.5 kg), with a head to body length of 7 to 12 inches, and a 12-17 inches tail.  It is found today in the tropical forest edges and secondary forests of Colombia where it is arboreal and diurnal.

Cottontops have a repertoire of 38 vocalizations including birdlike whistles, soft chirping sounds, high-pitched trilling, and staccato calls which researchers find unusually sophisticated as it conform to grammatical rules, expressions of curiosity, fear, dismay, playfulness, warning, joy, and calls to their young.

Cottontop Tamarins are one of the most endangered primates in the world with an estimated population of 6000 in the wild of which 2000 are adults.