Editorial Pitches | Ecuador | Marmosets

01 | Index

02 | Location

Columbia; Ecuador; Peru

03 | Nut Graph

The pygmy marmoset, the world’s smallest monkey, symbolizes the fragile — and hopeful — future of the Amazon.

04 | Summary

The pygmy marmoset, the world’s smallest monkey, is a creature no bigger than an apple. Yet, it possesses complex communication, intricate social structures, and an ingenious method of “tree-tapping” for its primary food source. This story will explore the pygmy marmoset’s perilous existence in shrinking Amazonian habitats, highlighting their unique adaptations, familial bonds, and the critical conservation efforts needed to protect these adorable, endangered primates.

According to Stella de la Torre, the central protagonist of this story, her study subjects for almost two decades simply “vanished” one day; de la Torre is searching for those that remain in refuges in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.

05 | Photography – In Progress

An African palm plantation in the vincinity of the Indigenous territory of the Secoya community. Most likely private land outside the territory.

A pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Yasuni National Park, Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador.

A pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Yasuni National Park, Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador.

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Note from Dr. Stella de la Torre:

White mark or moustache near nose (when distinct) = adult.

A pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The amber trunk of a Parkia balslevii depicting the gouged little holes and running gum, or resin. Yasuni National Park, Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador..

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Text from Jessica Camille Aguirre:

The pygmies always come back to their feeding tree, though. Pygmy marmosets use their teeth to gouge holes in trees that secrete gum, or resin—not to be confused with sap, which runs through a tree’s vascular system. The monkeys consume the starchy, carbohydrate-rich stuff with their tongue. In this, they are unique. Only about a dozen animals in the world have similar gustatory proclivities. One strange thing about pygmy marmosets, Dr. Stella de la Torre has documented, is that their choice of tree doesn’t seem to rely on the abundance of its resin. Each group of monkeys has trees it returns to every day, and almost none of them share the precise set of favorites. It might be that the gum preferences of a group of pygmy marmosets can’t be explained by anything other than taste.

A golden-mantled tamarin monkeys (Leontocebus tripartitus) feeds on holes in a Parkia balslevii tree that secretes gum, or resin—not to be confused with sap, which runs through a tree’s vascular system. Yasuni National Park, Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador.

A pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) feeds on a fruit in the Indigenous territory of the Secoya community.

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Note from Dr. Stella de la Torre:

I've just received a message from the most experienced and reknown botanist in Ecuador, Carlos Ceron. He believes the vine species is Cestrum microcalyx Francey (Solanaceae) and I fully trust him.

Pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea) are unusually cooperative; infants are usually born in pairs and nurtured by their mothers, carried by their fathers, and watched over by their siblings.

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Note from Dr. Stella de la Torre:

Two adults with three juveniles; adult male might be with tongue out; adult female (third from left); younger ones born in Jan/Feb and could be 4 months to <less than year.

Pygmy marmoset in canopy near Sacha Lodge, Ecuador.

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Text from Jessica Camille Aguirre:

Since the pygmies are so very tiny and defenseless, they move quickly, skittering along the branches and ducking under leaves. It’s quite possible to stand under a group of pygmies and never know they’re there, unless, like Stella de la Torre, you can decipher their calls.

Dr. Stella de la Torre measures the bark of a tree previously visited by pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea) using a durometer. Sacha Lodge, Ecuador.

Cesar Piaguaje (at right), a local guide from the Indigenous territory of the Secoya community, assists Dr. Stella de la Torre (at left) searching for pygmy marmosets in Secoya territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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Text from Jessica Camille Aguirre:

According to Secoya mythology, the creator made a pair in beginning who didn’t want to have much to do with anyone else. They weren’t yet people, they weren’t yet fully formed, and so the creator decided that these beings would be pygmy marmosets. As they lived among themselves, with their fragile scale and quick-footedness, the reticent pygmy marmosets would have the privacy they so cherished.

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