This species is distinguished from other tamarins by the crest of white hairs around its head, which looks like a mane of cotton.
 
Tree-dwelling and diurnal, Cotton-top Tamarins live in small groups of about 10. They spend most of their day looking for food – mainly fruit, gum, nectar and insects. In the dry season, when fruits are less plentiful, the proportion of gum, nectar, insects and small vertebrates in their diet increases.
 
After being exported in great number to biomedical research laboratories in the 1960s and early 1970s, they are now one of the world’s most endangered primates. Although protected in Colombia since 1969, they are victims of the destruction of their habitat to create farmland and pastures, as well as the trade in illegal pets.
 
Since 2010 the Zoo de La Palmyre has help to finance Proyecto Titì, a Cotton-top Tamarin protection program created in 1985 and combining research, education and community development programs.