Callitrichids as Phyletic Dwarfs, and the Place of the Callitrichidae in Platyrrhini

Abstract

The Callitrichidae, which includes the marmosets and tamarins of South America are quite distinct from the rest of the South American primates. The major distinguishing characteristics of the monkeys are reproductive twinning, absence of molars, tritubercular upper molars the presence of claws instead of nails on all digits except the hallux, and small body size. Comparative data on litter size in other primates and other mammals combined with the evidence of the reproductive system of callitrichids and their reduced number of nipples strongly suggests that reproductive twinning in callitrichids is a derived trait within Primates and within Platyrrhini in particular. Matt Cartmill clearly demonstrated that nails and apical pads appear to be a functional complex and are not better adapted than claws to most arboreal locomotor activities. He suggested that nails and pads are merely an alternative mode of adaptation to life in the trees, not a superior mode derived from arboreal clawed animals.

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