The Golden Lion tamarins entire body is covered in a fiery orange or red fur, it gets slightly darker and longer around their cheeks, throat and ears forming a striking mane.

Instead of the flat nails that humans and most other primates have, tamarins have claw like nail which allow them to cling vertically to tree trunks and aids running and jumping among the smaller branches. It also allows them to hook small prey out of cracks and crevices.

Fruit accounts for about 80% of their diet, especially during the rainy season when it is most abundant, 10-15% of their diet is made up of insects, other food items include flowers, small vertebrates (including reptiles) nectar and bird eggs.

The average lifespan of a captive golden lion tamarins is around 14  years, in the wild this would be considerably shorter. Although there are around 560 Golden lion tamarins left in the wild, captive breeding efforts have just allowed for a further 500 to be released back into the wild.

In the wild Golden lions prefer to sleep as a group, in hollow tree cavities or in dense vines. They tend not to sleep in the same place night after night, but do use the same sites within their home range repeatedly.