Black-faced Lion Tamarin

Open encyclopedia reference

The black-faced lion tamarin or Superagüi lion tamarin (Leontopithecus caissara) is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. It is endangered and endemic to coastal forests in southeastern Brazil. There are several conservation projects and the total populations is unlikely to exceed 400 individuals. It is overall golden-orange with contrasting black head, legs and tail.

The black-faced lion tamarin was not recognized until 1990 when two Brazilian researchers, Maria Lucia Lorini and Vanessa Persson, described it based on individuals from the island of Superagui in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Shortly after additional populations were discovered on the adjacent mainland in Paraná and in the far southern São Paulo. The specific name caissara is a reference to the caicaras, the local people of Superagui Island.

Mainland populations prefer swampy and inundated secondary forest for habitat. The island population use mainly tall lowland forest and arboreal restinga (coastal forest on sandy soils) as primary habitat. Both populations strictly remain at altitudes below 40 m (130 ft).

Wikipedia contributors, Superagüi lion tamarin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:41:59.435599+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Leontopithecus caissara Lorini & Persson, 1990

Name authority

Lorini & Persson, 1990

Common name

Black-faced Lion Tamarin

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Primates

Family

Callitrichidae

Genus

Leontopithecus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
12. suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
13. infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
14. familyCallitrichidae Gray, 1821
15. genusLeontopithecus Lesson, 1840
16. speciesLeontopithecus caissara Lorini & Persson, 1990

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Leontopithecus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 45 records assigned to Callitrichidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572921 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3T6ZQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.