Monkeying Around in Panama

With one of the smallest primates in the world

We had some nice looks at Geoffroy’s Tamarin monkeys on our trip. This species is found in Panama and northwestern Columbia. Other Tamarin monkey species are found throughout Central and South America but the Geoffroy’s Tamarin is considered the smallest monkey species in Central America. In Panama, it is known as “mono titi”.

I had long looks at a few of these monkeys during our stay in the Gamboa Rainforest. The coat on its back is variegated with black, brown, reddish and yellow fur. It has an almost bare face with a white triangular patch on its forehead. Their ears are black and curved.

Although the monkey looks large in these photos thanks to the close cropping of the picture, its body is about nine inches long with a tail that stretches to perhaps 15 inches. These monkeys weigh about one pound although they may get a bit larger. They have claw-like nails to help them navigate their forest world. They mostly remain in the trees, rarely coming to the ground.

You can imagine that I was star-struck looking at these animals. I took countless images of them and it is too tough for me to pick just a few favorites for you to enjoy. I hope this selection gives you a sense of the monkey’s curiosity and ease of movement.

I was able to watch a pair of these Geoffroy’s Monkeys for about a half hour. I have photos of the male that I’ll share in another post. He was moving around with a youngster clinging to him.

This one is ready to run!

This shot shows us its long fingers. Most Monkeys in Africa and Asia have opposable thumbs, but many species in the New World do not have opposable thumbs. It is thought that Tamarin monkeys lack these thumbs because they evolved to rely on their claw-like nails for clinging to tree trunks. They didn’t need to grasp objects with high precision. Rather, they needed those claws to navigate their arboreal habitat by climbing, running and jumping along tree branches.

This monkey is alert and ready to move.

Besides the mono titis we saw in Gamboa, we also saw them on what was called the Monkey Islands in the Panama Canal. We took a boat cruise towards those islands in search of monkeys.

More to follow....