Silvery Marmoset

Open encyclopedia reference

The silvery marmoset (Mico argentatus) is a New World monkey that lives in the eastern Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. The fur of the silvery marmoset is colored whitish silver-grey except for a dark tail. Remarkable are its naked, flesh-colored ears which stand out from the skin. They reach a size of 18 to 28 cm (7.1 to 11.0 in) and weigh from 300 to 400 g (11 to 14 oz). Silvery marmosets are diurnal and arboreal, using their claws to climb trees. Originally rain forest inhabitants, plantations have caused them to expand their range. They spend the night in tree hollows or in very close vegetation. They live together in small groups and mark their territory with scent glands, driving out intruders by shouting or by facial expressions (lowered brows and guarded lips). The diet of the silvery marmosets predominantly consists of tree sap. To a lesser extent, they also eat bird eggs, fruit, insects, and small vertebrates. After a 145-day gestation period, the female bears two (or rarely three) offspring.

Wikipedia contributors, Silvery marmoset; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:22:20.984098+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Mico argentatus (Linnaeus, 1771)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1771)

Common name

Silvery Marmoset

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Primates

Family

Callitrichidae

Genus

Mico

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. genusMico Lesson, 1840
16. speciesMico argentatus (Linnaeus, 1771)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 45 records assigned to Callitrichidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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=944125 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:42MHT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.