44 CARNIVORES. 



food includes fruits, young birds, eggs, lizards, and insects. In Costa Rica they are 

 found in the mountains at elevations of from six thousand to seven thousand feet. 

 In Nicaragua Mr. Belt observed them hunting the large lizards known as iguanas. 

 When, however, an iguana was surprised by a coati, it immediately fell from the 

 bough on which it was reposing to the ground, and thence escaped to another. 

 Nothing daunted, the coati would renew the pursuit again and again. Frequently 

 the coatis would divide their troop into two sections, one of which made its way 

 through the branches above, while the other hunted on the ground below, so 

 that any prey which might fall from the trees had but a poor chance of escape. 

 In Guatemala coatis are among the most common of all mammals, and may 

 be found at all elevations in the mountain-forests, from the level of the sea up 

 to nine thousand feet. They are very readily tamed, and are often kept by the 

 Spaniards in South America chained to one of the pillars of the corridor 

 surrounding the courtyards of their houses. 



That coatis are aboriginal inhabitants of South America is proved by the 

 occurrence of their fossilised remains side by side with those of many extinct 

 mammals in the caverns of Lagoa Santa, in Brazil. They are also represented in 

 deposits of still earlier age in Argentina, where the species have been referred to a 

 distinct genus (Cynonasua). 



The Kixkajou. 



Genus Cercoleptes. 



The last representative of the Raccoon family is the kinkajou, or jupura (C. 

 caudivolvulus), which is the most arboreal form of all, and is distinguished by its 

 prehensile tail — a character possessed by it in common with the Indian binturong. 

 The kinkajou is distinguished from the other American members of the family by 

 having but thirty-six teeth, owing to the disappearance of a pair of premolars 

 in each jaw. It is a long and rather low-bodied animal, with a rounded and 

 broad head, in which the muzzle is short, and the front of the nose marked by 

 a median vertical groove. The ears are small and rounded. The limbs are short, 

 with naked soles to the feet, and long, powerful, and much curved claws. The 

 tail, which, as we have said, is prehensile, is cylindrical, of moderate thickness, and of 

 great relative length, being fully as long as the head and body together. The 

 animal is further distinguished by the great length of its tongue, which can be 

 protruded a considerable distance in front of the mouth. The fur is soft, short, 

 and of an almost woolly nature, with nearly the same length over the whole body 

 and tail, and is of a pale yellowish-brown colour throughout. In size the kinkajou 

 may be compared to a cat. It is found in wooded districts from Central Mexico 

 to the Rio Negro in Brazil. In Guatemala, where it is far from rare, it ranges to 

 elevations of four thousand and live thousand feet above the sea. It conceals itself 

 in the holes of trees, — in which it probably also breeds, — issuing forth only at night 

 in search of food. A specimen which fell, when wounded, from a tree into a river 

 below swam well. It feeds on small mammals, birds and their eggs, honey and 

 fruits, and appears to be specially partial to oranges and bananas. 



The expression of the kinkajou reminded Bates strongly of that of some of the 



