The head with a long sagittal crest (a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull), white hairs from forehead to nape flowing over the shoulders; back is brown, and the underparts, arms and legs are whitish-yellow. Rump and inner thighs are reddish-orange. It is one of the bare-faced tamarins because of the lack of facial hair. Lower canine teeth are longer than incisors, so it seems as if it has small tusks. It is about the size of a squirrel and weighs 10 -18 oz (283 – 510 g). Males are slightly larger than females. Head-body length of this species is 6.7 in. (17 cm) and tail length is 9.8 in. (25 cm). Forelimbs are shorter than the hind limbs. The thumb is not opposable and the tail is not prehensile. All the finger and toe nails are like claws except for the big toe which has a flat nail.