Cozumel Island coati | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Procyonidae |
Genus: | Nasua |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | N. n. nelsoni
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Trinomial name | |
Nasua narica nelsoni Merriam, 1901
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Cozumel Island coati range | |
Synonyms | |
Nasua nelsoni |
The Cozumel coati (Nasua narica nelsoni), 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.
It has been treated as a species, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies of the white-nosed coati.[1][2][3][4] Cozumel Island coatis are slightly smaller than the white-nosed coatis of the adjacent mainland (N. n. yucatanica); but, when compared more widely to white-nosed coatis, the difference in size is not as clear.[5] The level of other differences also support its status as a subspecies rather than a separate species.[5]
It has been speculated that it is the result of an ancient introduction to Cozumel by the Mayans.[6] Although not rated by the IUCN (where included in the widespread white-nosed coati),[4] it is believed that the Cozumel Island coati is highly threatened and close to extinction.[7]