The fur of the emperor tamarin is predominantly grey colored, with yellowish speckles on its chest.
Using their claws, they cling to tree branches, maintaining a consistent verticality in the jungle environment.
To navigate their lush environment, which typically is in rainforests, they leap and move quickly through trees, rarely touching the forest floor.
[6] The lower montane forests Emperor tamarins are primarily found in are considered tropical and moist with an abundance of vegetation.
Secondary forests appear to accumulate woody plant species at a relatively rapid rate but the mechanisms involved are complex and no clear pattern emerged.
This process helped grow the trees in which Emperor tamarins primarily reside in when found in secondary forests.
Emperor tamarins consume a wide range of specimens in their daily dietary routine.
They eat fruits and flowers, many of which are readily available due to their flourishing vegetational habitats.
Many also choose to consume animal prey, such as insects and frogs, depending upon what type of forest they are located in.
Some speculated at one point that females of the species were the primary scavengers of food, specifically fruit and flowers, because of their enhanced abilities over the males in the form of stronger visual cues.
Due to high rates of twinning or multiple births in Emperor tamarins, parental care and paternal investment is important to infant survival.
Helpers provide the extra support to remove some of the cost of caring for multiple infants.
[5][13] Emperor tamarins behave actively, rapidly, gracefully, gregariously, and playfully in the wild.
The dynamics of agonistic relations within a group is not just only for the status of the breeding pair but may also influence the allocation of reproductive effort.
Long call vocalization has been hypothesized to serve as communicative signals both within and between Tamarin species.
Long calls also function as interspecific signals consisting of counter-calling between heterospecific groups that travel together or approach another after period separations throughout the day.
The acoustical differences between saddle back and emperor tamarin calls allow humans to differentiate between them easily.
Communication between tamarin species via long calls included high vocalization rates before reinitiating contact in the morning and during travel when two groups may become separated.
Emperor tamarins populations have been in decline due to threats of deforestation and human encroachment.
[citation needed] Manú National Park in Peru provides protection of the natural habitat of the emperor tamarins.
This national park is considered to be one of the world's most important protected areas because of it being located within one of the largest biodiversity hotspots and its high species richness.
Though there is cause for concern that improving the livelihoods and infrastructure of the national park may lead to negative effects on the wildlife populations including the emperor tamarins.
[22] Staff at San Francisco Zoo have reported that the species takes part in mutual grooming.