Black-tailed Marmoset
Mico melanurus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black-tailed marmoset (Mico melanurus) is a species of New World monkey from central South America, where it ranges from the south-central Amazon in Brazil, south through the Pantanal and eastern Bolivia, to the Chaco in far northern Paraguay. It is the southernmost member of the genus Mico and the only species where most of its range is outside the Amazon. The black-tailed marmoset is dark brown with paler foreparts and a black tail. Unlike most of its relatives, it has a striking white or yellow-white stripe that extends down its thigh. Its ears are naked, flesh-colored and stand out from the fur. They reach a size of 18 to 28 cm and weigh from 300 to 400 g. Black-tailed marmosets are diurnal and arboreal, using their claws to climb trees. Originally rain forest inhabitants, plantations have caused them to expanded them their range. They spend the night in tree hollows or in very close vegetation.
Wikipedia contributors, Black-tailed marmoset; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:47:47.339770+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mico melanurus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)
- Name authority
- (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)
- Common name
- Black-tailed 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- familyCallitrichidae Gray, 1821
- genusMico Lesson, 1840
- speciesMico melanurus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mico. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Acarí MarmosetMico acariensis (M. van Roosmalen, T. van Roosmalen, Mittermeier & Rylands, 2000) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Emilia's MarmosetMico emiliae (Thomas, 1920) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Marca's MarmosetMico marcai (Alperin, 1993) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Maués MarmosetMico mauesi (Mittermeier, Schwarz & Ayres, 1992) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rondon's MarmosetMico rondoni Ferrari, Sena, Schneider & Silva Jr., 2010 | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gold-and-white MarmosetMico chrysoleucos (Wagner, 1842) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Munduruku MarmosetMico munduruku Costa-Araújo, Farias & Hrbek in Costa-Araújo, Melo, Canale, Hernández-Rangel, Messias et al., 2019 | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Schneider's MarmosetMico schneideri Costa-Araújo, Silva-Jr., Boubli, Rossi, Hrbek & Farias, 2021 | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Silvery MarmosetMico argentatus (Linnaeus, 1771) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Santarém MarmosetMico humeralifer (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-crowned Dwarf MarmosetMico humilis (M. van Roosmalen, T. van Roosmalen, Mittermeier & de Fonseca, 1998) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hershkovitz's MarmosetMico intermedius (Hershkovitz, 1977) | CallitrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Jacchus leucomerus Gray, 1846 Gray, 1846 | synonym |
| Simia leukeurin Natterer in Pelzeln, 1883 Natterer in Pelzeln, 1883 | synonym |
| Callithrix melanura (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812) (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812) | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944128 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:42MJ5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.