are most active in the lower to middle (5-15m) strata of the forest. Foraging behavior The species makes use of both primary and secondary forest during foraging, keeping primarily to the canopy and spending minimal time on the ground. Black-handed tamarins subsist largely on fruit. During the dry season (November through January), when fruit is scarcer, they will also take arthropods such as grasshoppers and crickets, and eat the gum of Parkia pendula, an evergreen tree. Even during the dry season, however, fruit from Tetragastris altissima and Inga alba trees is available. During the wet season, over 90 percent of the diet is fruit from as many as nine different species of trees, including Inga stipularis, Inga edulis, Bagassa guianensis, Pouteria lucuma, Pourouma guianesis, Manilkara bidentata, and Chrysophyllum sp.. The seeds of many of these fruits are ingested and defecated. This process plays an important role in the regeneration of forests that are continuously threatened by logging. Predators Due to the black-handed tamarin’s small size, they are considered prey by many other animals. Their predators include man, diurnal birds of prey, snakes, and various cat species including margay and ocelot, which are capable arboreal hunters. Because black-handed tamarins have both aerial and terrestrial predators, they utilize any tree or bundled, thick foliage into which they can climb, and they maintain a group sleep system to keep safe while resting at night. The black-handed tamarin's social structure serves as an important line of defense against their predators. While much of their day is spent foraging, each individual keeps a lookout for predators and uses calls to alert their social unit. Although intimidating displays may be made toward predators or in territorial defense, the black-handed tamarin's primary defense is flight. The group aspect of their social structure is important to survival, as a single black-handed tamarin would not be able to forage and keep watch for predators safely and effectively. Reproduction Breeding behavior Tamarins typically live in extended family groups of 4 to 15 individuals. Although groups of tamarins may have more than one female per group, only one typically breeds (with the exception of Goeldi's marmoset). Dominant female callitrichids suppress the reproductive activity of their daughters and other subordinate females within their family group. Because daughters of dominant females and other females born and remaining in a group tend not to ovulate, when a female becomes sexually mature, there are two