The Goeldi's monkey is classified in the order Primates. Its family is Callitrichidae, and its genus is Callimico.

    The  body of the Goeldi's monkey is from eight to nine inches long. The tail is usually an inch or two longer than the body, and is used for balance as it climbs through the dense forest. This monkey has long limbs for climbing and hanging from trees. It  has claws instead of nails.The color is brownish – black, with a mane draping from its neck and shoulders. The fur is thick and soft. It has 36 teeth instead of 32 teeth like a regular marmoset. The Goeldis' call is very high pitched and squeaky.

    Goeldi's monkeys live in the upper Amazon in Brazil, Columbia, Eastern Peru, North Bolivia and Ecuador. They are found deep in the tropical rain forests, living mostly on the ground and in the understory. They prefer to travel 16 feet up in the trees, but they feed at the top of trees. They can horizontally jump 4 meters in the air. These monkeys are becoming more rare throughout their range because slash and burn agriculture has destroyed much of the tropical rain forests that they live in.

    A Goeldi's monkey is an omnivore. Its diet in the wild is plants, fruits, insects, spiders, frogs, lizards, and snakes. In the zoo it eats bananas, apples, oranges, eggs, kale and cooked carrot or yam. In the afternoon it also eats monkey biscuits, grapes, raisins, and cantaloup. Its favorite food, and a real treat, is mealworms.

    The gestation period for the Goeldi's monkey is 150-160 days. Only one or two babies are born. After a couple weeks, the father or an older sibling raises the young. After a couple of months the young become independent. They live in extended family groups that usually have 6 to 8 monkeys in them. Goeldi's monkeys usually live for 10 years.

    In the Brandywine Zoo, there is one male and one female. Tom Thumb, the eleven year old male, arrived from Oklahoma in April 3, 2000. Cha Cha, the eight year old female, came from Chicago on November 28, 2001. Rebecca Wentz, a zookeeper, describes the Goeldi's as the "shyest of all the monkeys" at the zoo.

For more information visit:
http://www.szgdocent.org/pp/p-mstmky.htm
http://www.ecotarium.org/wildlife/aotm/archive/200011_goeldi/