Article
Article
Coati
Article By:
Curtin, Charles B. Department of Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.
Last reviewed:December 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.144100
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Any of the species of carnivorous mammals assigned to the genera Nasua and Nasuella in the raccoon family Procyonidae. The most current classification recognizes four species of coatis. The common, South American, or ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua) [see illustration] ranges through the forests of South America; the white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) inhabits a wide area from the southwestern United States, through Mexico and Central America, to Colombia; the western mountain coati (Nasuella olivacea) is found only in South America, predominantly Colombia and Ecuador; and the eastern mountain coati (Nasuella meridensis) is confined to Venezuela. The coati found on the Mexican island of Cozumel was once thought to be another species, but the latest taxonomy designates it as a subspecies (Nasua narica nelsoni). See also: Carnivora; Mammalia; Raccoon
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