The Superagüi lion tamarin, also known as the black-faced lion tamarin, looks like a tiny, glowing ember of the forest. Its body is bright golden-orange, while its head, mane, arms, legs and long tail are ink-black, as if it’s wearing a black hoodie over a gold jumpsuit. About the size of a large squirrel, it has a delicate monkey face framed by a fluffy mane, giving it a miniature lion look that explains its name. Like other tamarins, it has sharp claws on most fingers instead of flat nails, perfect for gripping bark and racing along branches high above the forest floor. It is found nowhere else on Earth except a tiny stretch of Brazil’s Atlantic coastal forest, mainly around Superagüi Island and nearby mainland in the states of Paraná and southern São Paulo.

Life for this little “lion monkey” takes place almost entirely in the treetops. Superagüi lion tamarins are arboreal and diurnal: they are active by day, moving between about six and twenty metres above the ground, then sleep at night in tree holes or dense vine tangles.

Their diet is surprisingly varied for such a small primate. Most of what they eat is fruit, especially from a handful of tree species whose crops they follow across the seasons, but they also take insects, spiders, snails and the occasional small vertebrate. They lick nectar from flowers, nibble young leaves and bromeliad bases, and, unusually, eat mushrooms—particularly in the dry season, when fewer fruits are available. As they swallow fruit and later drop the seeds in their dung, they act as important seed dispersers, helping to replant their own forest habitat. In this way, a group of tamarins racing along branches is also quietly planting tomorrow’s trees.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Brazil

400

Official estimate

EN

2021

Paraná, São Paulo