632 THE CARNIVORES 



the longer hairs on the back tipped with black. The ears are relatively larger and 

 more hairy ; and the tail is invariably marked with from seven to nine broad ful- 

 vous or rufous rings alternating with black ones ; its tip being black. Both species 

 are subject, however, to considerable individual variations of color, and the distinc- 

 tion between them is sometimes difficult to make out. 



These animals usually go about in small troops, comprising from 

 about eight to twenty individuals ; and are mainly arboreal. Their 

 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 thou- 

 sand 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 court- 

 yard of their houses. 



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

 currence of their fossilized remains side by side with those of many extinct Mam- 

 mals 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 KINKAJOU 

 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 characteristic possessed by it in common with the Indian bin- 

 turong. 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 pre- 

 molars 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 pro- 

 truded 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 color throughout. In size the kinkajou may be 



