Bahamian raccoon

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Bahamian raccoon
Raccoons of North & Middle America (1950) P. l. insularis.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Procyon
Species:
Subspecies:
P. l. maynardi
Trinomial name
Procyon lotor maynardi
Bangs, 1898

The Bahamian raccoon (Procyon lotor maynardi), also called the Bahama raccoon or Bahamas raccoon, is a subspecies of the common raccoon endemic on the New Providence Island in the Bahamas. [1] The subspecies name, maynardi, comes from Charles Johnson Maynard, an American naturalist.

Contents

Classification

Thought to be a distinct species in the past, the Bahamian raccoon is now considered a subspecies of the common raccoon, as a result of a study of morphological and genetic analysis in 2003. The assumption that its occurrence on the Bahamas is the result of a human-sponsored introduction just a few centuries ago is supported by the fact that the Bahaman raccoon seems to be closely related to the Guadeloupe raccoon found on Guadeloupe, an archipelago nearly 2,000 km (1,243 mi) away, [2] as well as records of raccoons being present on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica.

Description

The Bahamian raccoon is small compared to the average size of the common raccoon, making it an example of insular dwarfism. Its delicate skull and dentition are similar to the ones of the Guadeloupe raccoon and the small subspecies of the Florida Keys. The coat is gray, with a slight ocher tint on the neck and shoulders, and the mask is interrupted by a distinct gap between the eyes. On the underparts, only few guard hairs cover the ground hairs.

Conservation

The authors of the study Taxonomic status and conservation relevance of the raccoons (Procyon spp.) of the West Indies (2003) say the Bahamian raccoon is an invasive species which poses a threat to the insular ecosystem. [2] The Bahamian Ministry of Health and Environment lists it as up for eradication on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Procyon</i> (genus) Genus of carnivores

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals comprising three species commonly known as raccoons in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon, is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are less well known. Genetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of raccoons are the ring-tailed cats and cacomistles of genus Bassariscus, from which they diverged about 10 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Bahama</span> Island

Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located 56 nautical miles east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is roughly 530 square miles (1,400 km2) in area and approximately 153 kilometres (95 mi) long west to east and 24 kilometres (15 mi) at its widest point north to south. Administratively, the island consists of the Freeport Bonded Area and the districts of East Grand Bahama and West Grand Bahama. Nearly half of the homes on the island were damaged or destroyed in early September 2019 by Hurricane Dorian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Out Islands</span> Group of islands in The Bahamas

The Out Islands are the islands that make up the Bahamas with the exception of New Providence Island, where the capital and largest city, Nassau, is located, and Grand Bahama Island, where Freeport is located. The Abaco Islands and Eleuthera islands are among the Out Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tres Marias raccoon</span> Subspecies of carnivore

The Tres Marias raccoon is a subspecies of the common raccoon endemic on the two main islands of the Islas Marías, an archipelago off the western coast of the Mexican state of Nayarit. Although sometimes considered to be a valid species, the Tres Marias raccoon is now regarded to be a subspecies of the common raccoon, introduced to the Islas Marías in the recent past. It is slightly larger than the common raccoon and has a distinctive angular skull. There are fewer than 250 mature individuals on the islands, they are hunted by the islanders and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as being "endangered".

The Barbados raccoon is an extinct subspecies of the common raccoon, that was endemic on Barbados in the Lesser Antilles until 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cozumel raccoon</span> Species of critically endangered raccoon

The Cozumel raccoon is a critically endangered species of island raccoon endemic on Cozumel Island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. It is sometimes also called the pygmy raccoon, dwarf raccoon, Cozumel Island raccoon, and Cozumel raccoon bear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guadeloupe raccoon</span> Subspecies of carnivore

The Guadeloupe raccoon is a common raccoon subspecies endemic to the two main islands of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Johnson Maynard</span> American naturalist

Charles Johnson Maynard was an American naturalist and ornithologist born in Newton, Massachusetts. He was a collector, a taxidermist, and an expert on the vocal organs of birds. In addition to birds, he also studied mollusks, moss, gravestones and insects. He lived in the house at 459 Crafts Street in Newton, Massachusetts, built in 1897 and included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as the Charles Maynard House. The Charles Johnson Maynard Award is given out by the Newton Conservators, Inc.

<i>Cyclura rileyi</i> Species of lizard

Cyclura rileyi, commonly known as the Bahamian rock iguana or the San Salvador rock iguana, is a critically endangered species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is native to three island groups in the Bahamas, and is in decline due to habitat encroachment by human development and predation by feral dogs and cats. There are three subspecies: the Acklins ground iguana, the White Cay iguana, and the nominotypical subspecies.

<i>Cyclura cychlura inornata</i> Subspecies of lizard

Cyclura cychlura inornata, the Allen Cays rock iguana or Allen Cays iguana, is a subspecies of the northern Bahamian rock iguana that is found on Allen's Cay and adjacent islands in the Bahamas. Its status in the IUCN Red List is critically endangered. The population has been growing over the last century. Although it was considered extinct in 1916, there are as of 2018 at least 482 mature adult animals counted on two islands, Leaf Cay and U Cay, and a few hundred on at least five other nearby islands where they have recently spread to by unknown means, as well as many juveniles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island raccoon</span>

The term island raccoons is used as a generic term for four endangered and one extinct subspecies or species of raccoon (Procyon) endemic on small Mexican and Caribbean islands, such as Cozumel and Guadeloupe. Other subspecies of raccoon living on islands, like that of the common raccoon native to the Florida Keys, are generally not included under this term, since it was established at a time when all five "island raccoons" were considered distinct species. The five populations are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahamian pineyards</span> Tropical and subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion

The Bahamian pineyards are a tropical and subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Pholidoscelis maynardi, commonly known as the Great Inagua ameiva, Inagua ameiva, or Inagua blue-tailed lizard, is species of lizard, a member of the family Teiidae. The species is endemic to the Bahamas. Three subspecies have been described.

A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal fauna is known from the Caribbean region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion—has been home to several families found nowhere else, but much of this diversity is now extinct.

<i>Chelonoidis</i> Genus of tortoises

Chelonoidis is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahama oriole</span> Species of songbird

The Bahama oriole is a species of songbird in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Bahamas, and listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List.

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References

  1. Zeveloff, Samuel I. (2002). Raccoons: A Natural History. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Books. pp.  44. ISBN   978-1-58834-033-7. (This source was used for all information in this article unless noted otherwise.)
  2. 1 2 Helgen, Kristofer M.; Wilson, Don E. (January 2003). "Taxonomic status and conservation relevance of the raccoons (Procyon spp.) of the West Indies". Journal of Zoology. 259 (1). Oxford: The Zoological Society of London: 69–76. doi:10.1017/S0952836902002972. ISSN   0952-8369.
  3. "National Invasive Species Strategy", by the BEST Commission