The Hapalinae are a subfamily within the family Cebidae, one of the four families of New World monkeys. The subfamily includes several genera, including the marmosets and tamarins. Until recently this group of animals were regarded as a separate family, called the Callitrichidae, and this classification will still be encountered in much current literature.

All hapalines are arboreal. They are the smallest of the anthropoid (i.e. simian) primates. They eat insects, fruit, and the sap or gum from trees; occasionally they will take small vertebrates.

Hapalines typically live in small, territorial groups of about 5 or 6 animals. They are the only primate group that regularly produce twins, which constitute over 80% of births in species that have been studied. Unlike other male primates, male hapalines generally provide as much parental care as females, more in some cases. Typical social structure seems to constitute a breeding group, with several of their previous offspring living in the group and providing significant help in rearing the young.

Studies in captivity, and the first field studies, suggested that the breeding group was invariably a single monogamous pair; subsequent field work on Brown-mantled Tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis), has shown that many of the groups involve multiple males, and polyandry seems to be the commonest arrangement, though monogamous pairs do occur, and so, though rarely, does polygyny. In polyandrous groups, both (or all) the mature males regularly copulate with the female, and all contribute equally to parental care. It is now thought that this flexible system, with a tendency towards polyandry, may be the typical mating system among hapalines, though until field studies on more species have been completed any generalisation must be tentative.

Species list

Subfamily Hapalinae

• Genus Callithrix
  • Common Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) jacchus
  • Black-tufted Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) penicillata
  • Wied's Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) kuhli
  • White-headed Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) geoffroyi
  • Buffy-headed Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) flaviceps
  • Buffy-tufted Marmoset, Callithrix (Callithrix) aurita
  • Silvery Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) argentata
  • White Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) leucippe
  • Emilia's Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) emiliae
  • Black-headed Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) nigriceps
  • Marca's Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) marcai
  • Black-tailed Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) melanura
  • Santarem Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) humeralifera
  • Maués Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) mauesi
  • Gold-and-white Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) chrysoleuca
  • Hershkovitz's Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) intermedia
  • Roosmalen's Dwarf Marmoset, Callithrix (Mico) humilis
  • Pygmy Marmoset, Callithrix (Cebuella) pygmaea
• Genus Leontopithecus
  • Golden Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia
  • Golden-headed Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysomelas
  • Black Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysopygus
  • Superagui Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus caissara
• Genus Saguinus
  • Red-handed Tamarin, Saguinus midas
  • Black Tamarin, Saguinus niger
  • Black-mantled Tamarin, Saguinus nigricollis
  • Graells's Tamarin, Saguinus graellsi
  • Brown-mantled Tamarin, Saguinus fuscicollis
  • White-mantled Tamarin, Saguinus melanoleucus
  • Golden-mantled Tamarin, Saguinus tripartitus
  • Moustached Tamarin, Saguinus mystax
  • Red-capped Tamarin, Saguinus pileatus
  • White-lipped Tamarin, Saguinus labiatus
  • Emperor Tamarin, Saguinus imperator
  • Pied Tamarin, Saguinus bicolor
  • Martins's Tamarin, Saguinus martinsi
  • Cottontop Tamarin or Pinché Tamarin, Saguinus oedipus
  • Geoffroy's Tamarin, Saguinus geoffroyi
  • White-footed Tamarin, Saguinus leucopus
  • Mottle-faced Tamarin, Saguinus inustus
• Genus Callimico
  • Goeldi's Marmoset, Callimico goeldii

References

• Goldizen, A. W. (1988). Tamarin and marmoset mating systems: Unusual flexibility. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 3, 36-40.