The red-handed tamarin is territorial and can be aggressive, with sharp canines and claws instead of fingernails on all fingers and all but the large toe.
Until 2001, most authorities included it as a subspecies (or simply a taxonomically insignificant variation) of the red-handed howler, though its distinction had already been pointed out much earlier.
Pht's lawyers started by unsuccessfully moving for the charges against the conspirators to be dismissed, claiming the rebels had not been captured red-handed.