A last blog!

Save the Golden Lion Tamarin Foundation
c/o Mr. Limbeck

I am writing to update you on my research concerning Golden Lion Tamarin. The Golden Lion Tamarin, like other mammals, reproduces sexually through the interaction of sperm and egg. For a proper pregnancy to occur, both the male and female Tamarin must be in good physical health. To that end, I worry about the release of airborne pollutants near their habitat in Seattle, Washington. Specifically I am worried about the release of Glycol Ethers into the air, a group of known toxic chemicals. Not only does Seattle release Glycol Ethers into the air, but it is the number one pollutant released in the city, according to Scorecard, a pollutant information site.
An alarming characteristic of glycol ethers, besides their harmful effect on the respiratory systems of tamarins exposed to them, is their effect on the reproductive system of many animals. They are suspected to cause many general reproduction properties, including early embryonic death, and reduced fertility in the females. In my opinion, though, the threat is their damage to the male of the species. Studies have been done in animals and humans exposed to Glycol Ethers, and found that there is a positive correlation between exposure to the toxic chemicals and a reduction in testicular size and sperm health. Lower sperm health can mean less effective sperm, in that the sperm would be unable to get to the egg and begin fertilization.
Unsurprisingly, no test of this nature has been run specifically on Golden Lion Tamarins, so we are unable to be absolutely certain of the effect of Glycol Ethers on our tamarins. I believe that it would inhibit the reproduction of the species, but it is imperative that we know for sure. It should be fairly simple to test. We will collect a sample of 4 males and 4 females of early adulthood, and 4 males and 4 females from late adulthood. Unfortunately, due to a limited population, this is the largest feasible test group. Half of each group would be the control population, and half would be the test population. The control group would be placed in a controlled environment in their natural habitat near Rio de Janeiro. The test group would be kept in Seattle, where they will be exposed to Glycol Ethers, the levels of which we know from environmental reports. From there, we will measure the testicular size of the males in each environment every 30 days, and check sperm activity. If there is a difference between the control and test groups, we have confirmed the toxicity of Glycol Ethers. Hopefully, there will be some mating, as well, and we can check embryonic health. However, the sample size is small enough that this will be an unpredictable source of results. I predict that we will see a correlation in the males between poor reproductive health and exposure to Glycol Ethers. From there, we should take steps to educate the city of Seattle on the damaging effect of its pollutants.


Sources:

Scorecard. 2005. Major Pollutants (online). Accessed April 23, 2006 at http://www.scorecard.org/community/pollution.tcl?fips_county_code=53033&name=KING&zip_code=98101.

Scorecard. 2005. Glycol Ethers (online). Accessed April 23, 2006 at http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/html/glycol_ethers.html.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2006. Air Toxics Website – Glycol Ethers (online). Accessed April 23, 2006 at http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/glycolet.html.

The Adaptability of the Golden Lion Tamarin to a Profitable End

Mr. Sprocket,
As per your instructions, I have compiled information on the possibility of selectively breeding the Golden Lion Tamarin.
Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia
  
• Phylum Chordata
  
• Subphylum Vertebrata
  
• Class Mammalia
  
• Order Primates
  
• Family Callitrichidae
  
• Genus Leontopithecus
  
• Species rosalia
  

The Golden Lion Tamarin has adapted many ways to suit its woodland environment, such as:

• It has claws on its long fingers, allowing it to cling to trees and other vertical surfaces. Since they spend most of their time in trees, it is useful for them to be able to move freely all through the tree.
  
• Golden Lion Tamarins have very long, narrow hands and fingers, allowing them to forage in tight spaces for food, and deftly manipulate foliage.
  
• They are adept jumpers, and can quickly move from tree to tree to escape predators.
  

I believe that we can capitalize on the jumping ability of these tamarins. They are already quite skilled at making long horizontal jumps, but I believe we can breed them to be even stronger jumpers. If we bred a tamarin that could jump very well, it would be able to make the same jumps with scientific equipment on its back, such as cameras, or other recording devices. Then, we could use the tamarins to do dangerous, difficult rain forest exploration for us, saving countless dollars in equipment and labor.
Luckily, these tamarins are already bred in zoos, so we have an accessible population already, and the knowledge of how to breed them. The real question is, how do we determine which tamarins are the best jumpers? Hopefully, we can organize some sort of jumping “contest” to determine this. Then, we select the best 5 males and 5 females , and allow them to breed. We will have to continue this process for several generations.
In any selective breeding situation, we run the chance of creating an entirely new species of tamarin through reproductive isolation. If there are variables we don't see in the tamarins we breed, or if they mutate in some large way, they may become unable to breed with the existing tamarin population, either through biological roadblocks, or tamarin-societal roadblocks. A biological roadblock would mean that the two animals simply could not produce offspring. A societal roadblock, probably more likely in this situation, would occur if something changed in the new tamarins that made them non-sexually-attractive to the current tamarins, or vice-versa.
The benefits of selectively breeding this tamarin have already been discussed. It may even help the survival of the species if they become better jumpers. However, the use of animals for the purpose discussed is somewhat unnecessary. Animals are unpredictable, and may not even survive the rain forest we send them to. A more viable solution would be the development of robots to handle the task of rain forest exploration. Robots would also be able to collect samples and return them to the lab.

Sources:
Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed April 09, 2006 at http://animaldiversity.org.

Philadelphia Zoo. 2003. Animals: Mammals Golden Lion Tamarin (online). Accessed April 09, 2006 at http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/index.php?id=3_1_1_8.