South American coati explained

The South American coati (Nasua nasua), 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.[1] An adult generally weighs from 2kg-7.2kgkg (04lb-15.9lbkg) and is 85cm-113cmcm (33inches-44inchescm) long, with half of that being its tail.[2] 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 (or "nose") of its northern relative, the white-nosed coati.[2]

Distribution and habitat

The South American coati is widespread in tropical and subtropical South America. It occurs in the lowland forests east of the Andes as high as 2500m (8,200feet) from Colombia and The Guianas south to Uruguay and northern Argentina. Nasua nasua occupancy is significantly and negatively related to elevation but positively related to forest cover.

It has been recorded in west Ecuador, and north and west Colombia.[3] [4] In Argentina, it has been recorded in Santa Fe and Salta Provinces.[5] It has been introduced and naturalized on the island of Mallorca, where it is considered an invasive species.[6] [7]

The only documented records of white-nosed coati in South America are from far northwestern Colombia, in the Gulf of Urabá region, near the Colombian border with Panama.[3] [4] The smaller mountain coati lives foremost at altitudes above the South American coati, but there is considerable overlap.[8]

Invasiveness

In Europe, this species has been included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list).[9] This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.[10]

Behavior

South American coatis are diurnal animals, and live both on the ground and in trees. They are omnivorous but primarily eat fruit, invertebrates, other small animals, and bird eggs. Also, they search for fruit in trees high in the canopy and use their snouts to poke through crevices to find animal prey on the ground. Furthermore, they also search for animal prey by turning over rocks on the ground or ripping open logs with their claws.[11] The South American coati was found to be a host of an intestinal acanthocephalan parasitic worm, Pachysentis lauroi.[12]

Females typically live in large groups, called bands, consisting of 15 to 30 animals. Males are usually solitary. Solitary males were originally considered a separate species due to their different social habits and were called coatimundis, a term still sometimes used today. Neither bands of females nor solitary males defend a unique territory, and territories therefore overlap.[13]

Group members can produce soft whining sounds, but alarm calls are different, consisting of loud woofs and clicks. Coatis typically sleep in the trees. When an alarm call is sounded, they climb trees, and then drop down to the ground and disperse. Predators of the South American coati include foxes, jaguars, jaguarundis, and occasionally humans.[14]

Reproduction

All females in a group come into heat simultaneously when fruit is in season and mate with several males. The gestation period is 74 to 77 days.[1] The estrus period lasts 1–2 weeks.[15] Captive females give birth to 1–7 young at a time. In the wild, they leave the group to give birth in a nest built in trees and rejoin the group with their offspring 5–6 weeks later.[11] They usually remain with their natal group. Males generally disperse from their natal group at the age of three years. South American coatis generally live for up to 7 years in the wild but can live up to 14 years in captivity.[1]

Taxonomy

Viverra nasua was the scientific name proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 for a red coati specimen.[16] It was subordinated to the genus Nasua. As of 2005, 13 subspecies were recognized:

Notes and References

  1. Gompper . M. E. . Decker . D. M. . 1998 . Nasua nasua . Mammalian Species . 580. 1–9 . 10.2307/3504444 . 3504444 . free .
  2. Kays, R. (2009). "Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Carnivores" (Wilson, D. E., and R. A. Mittermeier, eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. pp. 526–528. .
  3. Decker, D. M. . 1991 . Systematics of the Coatis, Genus Nasua (Mammalia, Procyonidae) . Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . 104 . 370–386 .
  4. Guzman-Lenis, A. R. . 2004 . Preliminary Review of the Procyonidae in Colombia . Acta Biológica Colombiana . 9 . 1 . 69–76 .
  5. Book: Eisenberg, J. . Redford, K. H. . 1989 . Mammals of the Neotropics . The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil . Chicago . University of Chicago Press . 9780226195421 . Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766) . 288–289 . https://books.google.com/books?id=p2MDAzCeQQoC&pg=PA288.
  6. News: Davies . Richard . April 17, 2015 . Intrusos exóticos . Exotic intruders . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230819131759/https://elpais.com/elpais/2015/01/07/album/1420654383_800563.html . August 19, 2023 . El País . es.
  7. Web site: Irwin . Aisling . August 2, 2016 . African ibis and South American coati among 37 on EU's kill list . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230930031349/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2099675-african-ibis-and-south-american-coati-among-37-on-eus-kill-list/ . September 30, 2023.
  8. Helgen . K. M. . Kays . R. . Helgen . L. E. . Tsuchiya-Jerep . M. T. N. . Pinto . C. M. . Koepfli . K. P. . Eizirik . E. . Maldonado . J. E. . 2009 . Taxonomic boundaries and geographic distributions revealed by an integrative systematic overview of the mountain coatis, Nasuella (Carnivora: Procyonidae) . Small Carnivore Conservation . 41 . 65–74 .
  9. Web site: List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240409233847/https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/invasive-alien-species_en . April 9, 2024 . 2021-07-27 . European Commission.
  10. Web site: Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European parliament and of the council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240409234043/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014R1143&from=EN . April 9, 2024 . PDF . 2014.
  11. Book: Emmons, L. H. . Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide . University of Chicago Press . 1997 . 978-0-226-20721-6 . 2nd . Chicago . 153–154 . registration.
  12. Gomes . Ana Paula N. . Amin . Omar M. . Olifiers . Natalie . Bianchi . Rita de Cassia . Souza . Joyce G. R. . Barbosa . Helene S. . Maldonado . Arnaldo . 2019 . A New Species of Pachysentis Meyer, 1931 (Acanthocephala: Oligacanthorhynchidae) in the Brown-Nosed Coati Nasua nasua (Carnivora: Procyonidae) from Brazil, with Notes on the Genus and a Key to Species . Acta Parasitologica . 64 . 3 . 587–595 . 10.2478/s11686-019-00080-6 . 6814649 . 31286360.
  13. Web site: BBC Ring-tailed Coati. 2007-07-13. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114225601/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/613.shtml. 2009-01-14.
  14. Web site: McLuen . Nicole . Perry . Pamela . 2000 . Southern Coati . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080709043312/http://itech.pjc.edu/sctag/coati/Southern%20Coati.htm . 2008-07-09 . 2007-07-13 . itech.pjc.edu.
  15. Hirsch, Ben T., and Jesus E. Maldonado. "Familiarity breeds progeny: sociality increases reproductive success in adult male ring‐tailed coatis (Nasua nasua)." Molecular Ecology 20.2 (2011): pp. 409–419.
  16. Book: von Linné . Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis . L. Salvii . 1766 . 12 . 1 . Holmiae . la . The system of nature: according to the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places . Viverra nasua . https://archive.org/details/carolialinnequit11linn/page/n67.

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