Pygmy marmosets: For them, a grape is the size of a hand! And yet the kids take care of each other in a way that many people cannot (9 photos)

When I look at pygmy marmosets, I experience mixed emotions. It's hard to believe that a monkey barely larger than a finger is a fairly close relative of humans. And then you look at their care for their loved ones and understand: not all people can do this.





Marmosets live in the evergreen forests of the Amazon basin. There is plenty of food there, but there are also a lot of dangers, especially for such kids. To survive, micromonkeys are forced to rely on each other - primates live in groups of 2 to 9 animals.



The composition of the group is as follows: father - 1 piece, mother - 1 piece and offspring aged 2-3 years. Sometimes a couple of adults join the family and voluntarily accept a subordinate position. For most of the day, the friendly family relaxes in the shade, communicates and brushes each other’s fur. This allows you to establish friendly relations, rid your neighbor of parasites, and fill your belly with insects.





But you won’t be satisfied with fleas alone. In the morning and after siesta, the family goes out in an organized manner in search of food. They target fruits, insects and tree sap. The monkeys gnaw holes in the bark and feast on sweet water.



The marmosets have not heard of the children's rule: “when I eat, I am deaf and dumb” - even during feeding, the primates continue to chatter to each other. Little monkeys have a whole range of calls. The first type is necessary in order to indicate your location in space. The second is to attract the attention of family members to rich delicacies. The third is a warning of approaching danger. In short, the marmosets, like grannies at the entrance, chatter incessantly!



The icing on the cake is their interactions with children. Marmosets breed all year round, so the mother of the family becomes pregnant every 5-6 months, almost immediately after the previous birth. The female spends a lot of time eating, because she needs to feed 4 children at once: two embryos inside and two babies outside. Therefore, the whole family takes care of the children!



The father and older children are sitting with the small children. They constantly communicate with children, carry them on their backs and bring them to their mother when it is time to feed. Surrounded by affection, young marmosets quickly accept the rules of the game and begin to comb the fur of their relatives.



This way of life is very beneficial for everyone: the baby learns to interact with other monkeys, the youngsters prepare to take care of their offspring, and the mother can eat in peace without fear that her children will be in danger.



When a marmoset turns 2 full years old, it can leave its native flock and go in search of a soul mate. At these moments the primate is especially vulnerable, so he tries to find a mate as quickly as possible. But every year it becomes more and more difficult to do this: the clearings are unsuitable for life, so the young family has to spend more and more time in order to find an unoccupied corner.



The species is not yet endangered, but the Red Book has listed it as “threatened.” Marmosets are too attached to dense forests, which are now being rapidly cut down.