Common Marmoset

• It is one of the fastest-ageing primates known, and widely used as a biomedical model for the study of human ageing.
• It eats tree gum and sap, insects, fruit and nectar.
• It is one of the smallest monkeys in the world, weighing only 300-500 grams as an adult.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Coastal Atlantic forest, dry Caatinga scrub and Cerrado savannah of north-eastern Brazil

Birth weight

No precise birth weight found (twins together can come to as much as 40% of the mother's body weight)

Size at birth

Tiny and dependent at birth, carried by both parents

Sexual maturity

15-18 months

Gestation / incubation

142-150 days (~4.8-5 months)

Litter / clutch size

Non-identical twins in the great majority of births, with up to 2 litters a year

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 22.8 years in captivity

Sources consulted: Wiley (Aging Phenotypes study); AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); ScienceDirect Topics; New England Primate Conservancy; Animalia.bio; Animal Diversity Web; PMC (litter size study, feeding behavior aging study)

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.