L. chrysomelas Skull Replica measures 2.1 inches. L. chrysomelas Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Known as Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home decor skull, or office decor skull.
The L. chrysomelas or Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is an endangered species.
The range for wild L. chrysomelas individuals is spread across four places along southeastern Brazil, with a recent census estimating 3,200 individuals left in the wild and a captive population maintaining about 490 individuals among 150 zoos.
Golden Marmoset are found only in Brazil. Due to habitat destruction, they are confined to the southern part of the state of Bahia, Brazil.
The physical appearance of Leontopithecus chrysomelas is similar to other species of tamarins. It has relatively large canines with a small head and body. It is mostly black with a thick, long golden mane.
In the wild Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin live for approximately 15 years, but in zoos they can live up to 20 years.
The Golden Marmoset tends to defend a large home range relative to its small body size, (ranging from 40–320 hectares).
It has a very wide diet; it eats plants, fruits, flowers, nectar, insects and small invertebrates; which include insect larvae, spiders, snails, frogs, lizards, bird eggs and small snakes.
Typically, fruits are eaten shortly after awaking, as the fruit sugars provide quick energy for hunting later on.
The L. chrysomelas searches for animal prey within epiphytic bromeliads; if its home range does not contain many bromeliads, then it will also forage in crevices, holes in trees, between palm fronds and in leaf litter.
It occasionally eats gum, but this behavior is rare in this species of tamarin. Since its habitat is fairly stable within the rainforest, its preferred food is available year-round and they do not need to resort to the low nutritional value of exudates.
L. chrysomelas communicate using smell; they have scent glands which they use to mark their territory and pathways to food sources. Individuals can be identified by one another based on their scent.
The forest of Bahia, Brazil has been reduced to 2% due to farming, ranching, mining and urbanization.
The Atlantic Forest is highly fragmented, and the disappearance of this habitat is the main reason for the golden-headed lion tamarin’s decline.
The majority of the forest was once dominated by cocoa plants through a method known as cabruca.
This is a system of shade cropping in which the middle and understory trees are removed and replaced with cocoa trees. Although the tamarin’s habitat is reduced, it still leaves old growth trees which give the tamarins a place to forage and to sleep.
L. chrysomelas are classified as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
They are species which have been categorized as very likely to become extinct in their known native ranges in the near future. On the IUCN Red List, endangered is the second-most severe conservation status.