Procyonidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, which includes raccoons, coatis, olingos, kinkajous, ring-tailed cats, and cacomistles, and many other extant and extinct mammals. A member of this family is called a procyonid. They are native to North and South America, though the common raccoon has been introduced to Europe, western Asia, and Japan. Procyonid habitats are generally forests, though some are found in shrublands and grasslands as well. The ring-tailed cat has a varied range including rocky areas and deserts as well as forests, and the common raccoon is widespread in urban environments. Species range in size from around 30–65 cm (12–26 in) long, plus a tail generally as long again. Population sizes are largely unknown, though the Cozumel raccoon is critically endangered, with around 200 individuals left, and the Eastern mountain coati is endangered. No procyonid species have been domesticated, although raccoons are sometimes kept as pets.
The fourteen species of Procyonidae are split into six genera, which are not currently grouped into named clades. Procyonidae is believed to have diverged as a separate family within Carnivora around 22.6 million years ago. [1] In addition to the extant species, as of 2020 [update] Procyonidae includes forty extinct species placed in the six extant and nineteen extinct genera, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.
Conservation status | |
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EX | Extinct (0 species) |
EW | Extinct in the wild (0 species) |
CR | Critically Endangered (1 species) |
EN | Endangered (1 species) |
VU | Vulnerable (0 species) |
NT | Near threatened (2 species) |
LC | Least concern (10 species) |
Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the procyonid's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. All extinct species or subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol (†). Population figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
The family Procyonidae consists of fourteen extant species belonging to six genera and divided into dozens of extant subspecies. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Some prior classification schemes included the red panda or divided the family into named subfamilies and tribes based on similarities in morphology, though modern molecular studies indicate instead that the kinkajou is basal to the family, while raccoons, cacomistles, and ring-tailed cats form one clade and coatis and olingos another, despite morphology suggesting otherwise.
The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis; this includes rearranging Bassaricyon from five species to a mostly different four, and promoting the eastern mountain coati from a subspecies of the mountain coati. [2] [3] There are additional proposals which are disputed, such as promoting the Guadeloupe raccoon population of the Bahamian raccoon subspecies of raccoon to a separate subspecies, [4] which are not included here.
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
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Eastern lowland olingo | B. alleni Thomas, 1880 | Northwest South America | Size: 30–46 cm (12–18 in) long, plus 40–53 cm (16–21 in) tail [2] Habitat: Forest [5] Diet: Primarily eats fruit, as well as small rodents, lizards, birds, insects, and eggs [5] | LC
|
Northern olingo | B. gabbii Allen, 1876 | Central America | Size: 38–45 cm (15–18 in) long, plus 40–53 cm (16–21 in) tail [2] Habitat: Forest [6] Diet: Primarily eats fruit, nectar, flowers, insects, and small vertebrates [7] [6] | LC
|
Olinguito | B. neblina Helgen, 2013 Four subspecies
| Andes mountains in northwest South America | Size: 32–40 cm (13–16 in) long, plus 33–43 cm (13–17 in) tail [2] Habitat: Forest [8] Diet: Primarily eats fruit [8] | NT
|
Western lowland olingo | B. medius Thomas, 1909 Two subspecies
| Northwest South America and eastern Central America | Size: 33–39 cm (13–15 in) long, plus 35–52 cm (14–20 in) tail [2] Habitat: Forest [9] Diet: Primarily eats fruit and nectar [9] | LC
|
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cacomistle | B. sumichrasti (Saussure, 1860) Five subspecies
| Southern Mexico and Central America | Size: 38–47 cm (15–19 in) long, plus 39–53 cm (15–21 in) tail [10] Habitat: Forest [11] Diet: Primarily eats fruit, insects, and small vertebrates [11] | LC
|
Ring-tailed cat | B. astutus (Lichtenstein, 1830) Fourteen subspecies
| Mexico and southwestern United States | Size: 30–42 cm (12–17 in) long, plus 31–45 cm (12–18 in) tail [12] Habitat: Shrubland, forest, rocky areas, desert, and grassland [13] Diet: Primarily eats rodents, insects, birds, and fruit [13] | LC
|
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
South American coati | N. nasua (Linnaeus, 1766) Thirteen subspecies
| Northern and central South America | Size: 41–67 cm (16–26 in) long, plus 32–69 cm (13–27 in) tail [14] Habitat: Forest and shrubland [15] Diet: Primarily eats invertebrates and fruit [15] | LC
|
White-nosed coati | N. narica (Linnaeus, 1766) Four subspecies
| Southern North America, Central America, and northwest South America | Size: 33–67 cm (13–26 in) long, plus 33–67 cm (13–26 in) tail [16] Habitat: Grassland and forest [17] Diet: Primarily eats fruit and invertebrates [17] | LC
|
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern mountain coati | N. meridensis Thomas, 1901 | Andes mountains in Venezuela | Size: 43–54 cm (17–21 in) long, plus 19–30 cm (7–12 in) tail [3] Habitat: Forest and grassland [18] Diet: Unknown [18] | EN
|
Western mountain coati | N. olivacea (Gray, 1865) Two subspecies
| Andes mountains in northern South America | Size: 36–39 cm (14–15 in) long, plus 20–24 cm (8–9 in) tail [19] Habitat: Forest and grassland [20] Diet: Primarily eats invertebrates, small vertebrates, fruit, and vegetable remains [20] | NT
|
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kinkajou | P. flavus (Schreber, 1774) Seven subspecies
| Central America and northern South America | Size: 40–60 cm (16–24 in) long, plus 40–60 cm (16–24 in) tail [21] Habitat: Forest [22] Diet: Primarily eats fruit, as well as flowers and leaves [22] | LC
|
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cozumel raccoon | P. pygmaeus Merriam, 1901 | Cozumel island in Mexico | Size: 42–60 cm (17–24 in) long, plus 23–26 cm (9–10 in) tail [23] Habitat: Forest [24] Diet: Primarily eats crabs, as well as fruit, insects, crayfish, and small vertebrates [24] | CR
|
Crab-eating raccoon | P. cancrivorus (G. Cuvier, 1798) Four subspecies
| South America | Size: 54–65 cm (21–26 in) long, plus 25–38 cm (10–15 in) tail [25] Habitat: Forest and inland wetlands [26] Diet: Primarily eats molluscs, fish, crabs, insects, and amphibians [26] | LC
|
Raccoon | P. lotor (Linnaeus, 1758) 22 subspecies
| North and Central America, and introduced to Central Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, and Japan | Size: 41–55 cm (16–22 in) long, plus 19–41 cm (7–16 in) tail [27] Habitat: Forest [28] Diet: Omnivorous, eats fruit, nuts, insects, small mammals, eggs, birds, frogs, fish, aquatic invertebrates, worms, and garbage [28] | LC
|
The white-nosed coati, also known as the coatimundi, is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae. Local Spanish names for the species include antoon, gato solo, pizote, and tejón, depending upon the region. It weighs about 4–6 kg (8.8–13.2 lb), and the nose-to-tail length of the species is about 110 cm (3.6 ft) with about half of that being the tail length. However, small females can weigh as little as 3.1 kg (6.8 lb), while large males can weigh as much as 9 kg (20 lb).
Coatis, also known as coatimundis, are members of the family Procyonidae in the genera Nasua and Nasuella. They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. The name "coatimundi" comes from the Tupian languages of Brazil, where it means "lone coati". Locally in Belize, the coati is known as "quash".
Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous.
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 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.
The kinkajou is a tropical rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos and is also known as the "honey bear". Kinkajous are arboreal, a lifestyle they evolved independently; they are not closely related to any other tree-dwelling mammal group.
The cacomistle, also spelled cacomixtle, is a nocturnal, arboreal and omnivorous member of the carnivoran family Procyonidae. Its preferred habitats are wet, tropical, evergreen woodlands and mountain forests, though seasonally it will venture into drier deciduous forests.
Bassariscus is a genus in the family Procyonidae. There are two extant species in the genus: the ringtail or ring-tailed cat and the cacomistle. Genetic studies have indicated that the closest relatives of Bassariscus are raccoons, from which they diverged about 10 million years ago in the Tortonian Age of the Miocene. The two lineages of Bassariscus are thought to have separated after only another two million years, making it the extant procyonid genus with the earliest diversification. Later diversification in the genus in the Pliocene and Pleistocene saw the emergence of two extinct species, Bassariscus casei and Bassariscus sonoitensis, respectively. Due to the more digitigrade stance of their legs compared to the plantigrade stance of other members of Procyonidae, some taxonomies place the genus as a separate family, Bassaricidae.. The name is a Greek word for fox ("bassaris") with a Latinized diminutive ending ("-iscus"). The genus was named by Elliott Coues in 1887, having previously been described by Lichtenstein in 1830 under the name Bassaris. Coues proposed the word "bassarisk" as the English term for animals in this genus. Its habitat includes semi-arid areas in the southwestern United States, the whole of Mexico, as well as moist tropical forests in Central America.
Nasua is a genus of coatis of the family Procyonidae. Two additional species of coatis, commonly known as mountain coatis, are placed in the genus Nasuella.
Mountain coatis are two species of procyonid mammals from the genus Nasuella. Unlike the larger coatis from the genus Nasua, mountain coatis only weigh 1.0–1.5 kilograms (2.2–3.3 lb) and are endemic to the north Andean highlands in South America.
The genus Bassaricyon consists of small Neotropical procyonids, popularly known as olingos, cousins of the raccoon. They are native to the rainforests of Central and South America from Nicaragua to Peru. They are arboreal and nocturnal, and live at elevations from sea level to 2,750 m. Olingos closely resemble another procyonid, the kinkajou, in morphology and habits, though they lack prehensile tails and extrudable tongues, have more extended muzzles, and possess anal scent glands. However, the two genera are not sisters. They also resemble galagos and certain lemurs.
The western mountain coati or western dwarf coati is a small procyonid, found in cloud forest and páramo at altitudes of 1,300–4,250 metres (4,270–13,940 ft) in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. A population discovered in the Apurímac–Cuzco region of southern Peru has tentatively been identified as the western mountain coati, but may represent an undescribed taxon.
The northern olingo, also known as the bushy-tailed olingo or as simply the olingo, is a tree-dwelling member of the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons. It was the first species of olingo to be described, and while it is considered by some authors to be the only genuine olingo species, a recent review of the genus Bassaricyon has shown that there are a total of four olingo species, although two of the former species should now be considered as a part of this species. Its scientific name honors William More Gabb, who collected the first specimen. It is native to Central America.
The Cozumel coati, or Cozumel Island coati, is a coati from the Mexican island of Cozumel, in the Caribbean Sea. It is in the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons, olingos, and kinkajous.
The South American coati, also known as the ring-tailed coati, is a coati species and a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), found in the tropical and subtropical parts of South America. An adult generally weighs from 2–7.2 kg (4.4–15.9 lb) and is 85–113 cm (33–44 in) long, with half of that being its tail. Its color is highly variable and the rings on the tail may be only somewhat visible, but its most distinguishing characteristic is that it lacks the largely white snout of its northern relative, the white-nosed coati.
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 also called the pygmy raccoon, dwarf raccoon, Cozumel Island raccoon, and Cozumel raccoon bear.
The eastern mountain coati or eastern dwarf coati is a small procyonid found in cloud forest and páramo at elevations of 2,000–4,000 m (6,600–13,100 ft) in the Andes of western Venezuela. Until 2009, it was included as a subspecies of the western mountain coati, but the eastern mountain coati is overall smaller, somewhat shorter-tailed on average, has markedly smaller teeth, a paler olive-brown pelage, and usually a dark mid-dorsal stripe on the back versus more rufescent or blackish, and usually without a dark mid-dorsal stripe in the western mountain coati. When the two were combined, they were classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List but following the split the eastern mountain coati is considered endangered. A genetic analysis revealed that it should be regarded as a synonym of N. olivacea.
The olinguito is a mammal of the raccoon family Procyonidae that lives in montane forests in the Andes of western Colombia and Ecuador. It was classified as belonging to a new species in 2013. The specific name neblina is Spanish for fog or mist, referring to the cloud forest habitat of the olinguito.