430 



POTTO AND POTOS 



from Carnivora and resembles Lemuroids.^ It has been pointed 

 out that the form of the lower jaw " much resembles that of the 

 Lemuroid Microrhynchas." There is, however, no doubt that it. 

 is rightly placed in the present group. The tail is very pre- 

 hensile, and the animal is tlierefore, as might be supposed from this 

 circumstance, purely arboreal. It has some twenty-eight verte- 



FiG. 216. — Kiukajoii. Cercolcptes caudiLXiloulus. x 



brae. This genus has a median groove upon the nose. The claws 

 are long and sharply pointed, and the palms and soles of the 

 feet are naked. The premolars are three, the molars two. There 

 are fourteen dorsal vertebrae, of which nine are united to the 

 nine -jointed sternum by ribs. There is but one species, C. 

 caudi'volvulus, of a uniform yellowish-brown colour. 



Nasua, the Coati, ranges from Texas to Paraguay, and has 



Fig. 217. — Coati. Nasua rufa. x J. 



two species. In Guatemala it reaches a height of 9000 feet on 

 the mountains. The nose is produced into a short and very 



^ It is a curious fact that a native name for the creature is "Pottos" (cf. of 

 course Potto) ; and indeed tlie generic name Potos seems to liave the priority over 

 Cereolcptes. 



