Advertisement
Saquinus bicolor or more commonly known as the Pied Tamarian is a native of the
Brazilian rainforest.
S. bicolor is considered a neotropical endangered primate, a primate residing in Central or South American, mainly within the rainforest or Amazon region. More distinctively, S. bicolor is only found in the vicinity of Manaus, the capital city the Amazonas (Kutschera.). According to Kutschera, S. bicolor will stay within the vicinity of Manaus, due the interspecific competition with the Red-handed Tamarin. It has one of the smallest geographic ranges of all the Amazonian and Neotropical primates. Furthermore, it is also said that because of this interspecific competition, S.bicolor is gradually becoming displaced within its native habitat. The preferred habitat is relatively small. S. bicolor resides within constrained areas of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest (Dollinger et al. 2008). The Brazilian rainforest is best known for its beautiful, distinctive vegetation. Its canopy layer is where much of the biodiversity occurs. Residing within the Amazon are about 500 different types of mammalian species with more than half of these species being arboreal, as is the pied tamarin. Many of the plants and trees produce luscious fruits and flowers, making the tamarin an excellent frugivore. Being that the luscious fruits and flowers may contain small invertebrates; the tamarin is also known to digest a small amount of insects and other invertebrates (Price et al.). However, the tamarin is constricted to only the vicinity of Manaus, a capital city within the Amazon (Kutschera).
Threats to Survival / Conservation Threats
S. bicolor is critically endangered due to a variety of natural and human induced behavior. Habitat loss and degradation may be directly related to hunting and logging (Costa). According to the Institute of Environment in Brazil, human induced habitat loss and fragmentation are the major treats for land mammals, as well as arboreal mammals residing within the rainforest. However, one of the most critical factors of human induced habitat loss is due to the economically expanding city of Manaus. This economic development not only destroys the land aspect of a once freely, vegetated city, but has turned this luscious city into a developed urban area, filled with air and water pollution; due to human population densities increasing.
Its natural predators are small cats, birds of prey, and snakes. In urban setting main predators are domestic and feral cats and dogs. Due to the destruction of their natural habitat the species is at risk. However, the species also occurs in several protected areas.
.
