In a group of documentaries "Small World" filmed by Paul Rudd, there is a particularly cute picture that has aroused widespread discussion among netizens:
In the picture, a monkey carefully touched a green insect next to it, and the insect was impatient with its touch, silently took its leg away from its arms, and took two steps forward.
The interesting point of this scene is the proportion of the monkey and the insect's body, if the monkey is not too small, some people will misunderstand that the insect is also too big, is this really not a special effect of borrowing or CG production?
This monkey is a pygmy marmoset from the Americas and is recognized as the smallest monkey breed in the world, and it is real.
The animals of the American continent are a system of their own, and the marmoset is a unique monkey breed living in the Americas, which contains 21 different monkeys in four genera, and the pygmy marmoset is one of them.
Pygmy marmosets are also known as finger monkeys or squirrel monkeys because of their small, plush appearance and long tail, resembling a small squirrel.
How small is the pygmy marmoset? Its average head and body length is only 117 to 152 mm, its tail is 172 to 229 mm long, and the adult pygmy marmoset weighs only 100 grams, which is the weight of two eggs. In front of such a small monkey, the size of the insect is naturally lined with a particularly large size.
Pygmy marmosets eat fruits and insects, but their main food is gum. They use their sharp teeth to make holes in trees or vines and then lick the juices with their tongues. If insects are attracted to this sap, especially butterflies, they will also be grabbed by pygmy marmosets and stuffed into their mouths.
It can be seen that the picture of the little pygmy marmoset touching the insect at the beginning of the article is not curious, it is touching its own food... This insect's heart is also too big, and it has not been quick to escape after being touched by its own natural enemies for half a day, is it because the pygmy marmoset is too cute and looks uninsuring, so even it is confused?
Pygmy marmosets differ from larger monkeys in that they form small communities based on families, usually ranging from 2 to 10, with community members ranging from 1 to 2 adult males, plus 1 to 2 adult females and their offspring.
It is not easy for the baby of the pygmy marmoset to grow up, and to take care of a small baby, it is necessary to use the power of at least 5 pygmy marmosets in a family, either they help groom the baby or help the father to drive away the predators.
In order to take care of the newborn babies in the community, other females in the community will even postpone their ovulation period, suspend their own reproductive opportunities, and focus on caring for newborn babies.
Pygmy marmosets are usually monogamous and occasionally have small polygamous families, but because they live in a narrower range, it is rare to form a polygamous group. For pygmy marmosets, polyandry is more conducive to the growth of their offspring.
Because pygmy marmosets usually have two babies in one litter, there is only a 16% chance that they will have a baby, and an 8% chance that they will give birth to triplets. In polygamous communities, husbands can help take care of twins or even triplets, while in monogamous communities, they rely more on the strength of their older children, and if a young couple is newly married, their first child will be particularly hard to raise.
Like many wild animals, pygmy marmosets continue to decline due to the shrinking environment and the impact of poaching. In the past, many people treated marmosets as pets, captured, sold and raised, pygmy marmosets are also one of its most popular breeds, until recent years, although many American countries have banned the capture and sale of all kinds of marmosets, but because they are really small and cute, and at the same time are primates, they will always give many people an illusion that they are elf-like beings, so they spend a lot of money to buy and breed from illegal channels.
Pygmy marmosets are uncivilized species, and they are difficult to be domesticated and domesticated, because the growth of pygmy marmosets is inseparable from "family education" and "family care". As mentioned earlier, it takes the strength of at least 5 pygmy marmosets to take care of a baby pygmy marmoset, and the pygmy marmosets communicate with each other with a special call. If the pygmy marmoset is isolated and kept in isolation, it will become silent because of its lack of socialization and inability to hear the call of its companions.
Although pygmy marmosets are primates, their IQs are not as high as those of other monkeys, and they belong to the lower levels of primates, but only because of their small size and docile personality will give people the illusion that they can get along well with humans. Here the claws should also be emphasized, pygmy marmosets are wild animals, like all other wild animals, they prefer to live in their own hometown, with their partners, family, rather than with humans, refuse to catch wild animals, refuse to sell and raise wild animals!