SPECIES OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER 2013

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Callitrichidae
Genus: Saguinus
Species: Saguinus oedipus

Ever whispered behind someone's back because you really don't like them? C'mon ... you know you have. No need to feel too bad – you're not alone in your whispering ways. It turns out some Cotton-top Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) do the same. Research conducted at New York City’s Central Park Zoo shows that cotton-top tamarin monkeys display 'whisper-like behaviours' in the presence of humans they don't like. 

Cotton-top tamarin is well known for its vocal accomplishments, they have an impressive repertoire of calls to suit different situations, from bird-like chirps and whistles to barks and high-pitched trilling. These advanced communication skills are key for a sociable species that lives in large groups and displays cooperative breeding (where only one dominant pair produces offspring and everyone else pitches in to raise them). 

So it seems that, like humans, tamarins are given to speaking in hushed tones to avoid being overheard when someone mean and nasty is nearby. Such whisper-like behaviour has been observed in very few animal species, and never before in non-human primates, but the researchers think it may occur among other primate species, we just haven't been able to eavesdrop on it yet! The study was published in the journal Zoo Biology. 

Link to Original Paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
News Source Courtesy: http://earthtouch.tv