It has grey-black skin, and the most obvious differences from the common marmoset are its whitish face ("skull-like facial mask",[6]) brown crown, and shorter ear tufts.

The buffy-tufted marmoset is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil, occurring in ombrophilous and semideciduous forests in the Serras do Mar and Mantiqueira in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, and extending to the North of Rio Doce in Minas Gerais.

[7] They forage and travel in the lower canopy and dense understorey vegetation, typically found between 6 and 9 meters above the ground.

[8] It occurs in perennial, semideciduous, secondary, mixed montane forests, interspersed with stands of bamboo at altitudes ranging from 80 to 1200 meters.

During dry periods, they adapt their diet to include animal matter, such as lepidoptera larvae, orthopterans, cockroaches, spiders, harvestmen, snakes, lizards, small frogs and bird eggs.