^^0.2.]^ ALLEX OX THE GENUS XASUA. 161 



The second species lie here admits is the Kama Iciicorlnjnchm from 

 Costa Eica, which, from a comparison of skulls sent him by Dr. von 

 Prantzins, he found to be smaller* than N. socialis, the skull rounder, 

 mth the crests and ridges less developed, and the molar teeth thicker. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that the two species of Coati owe 

 their first introduction into systematic literature to Linne, who in turn 

 derived them from Brisson and Buffon, by each of whom both were 

 described at nearly the same date. It further appears that these species 

 were properly defined (as far as they were then known) and clearly recog- 

 nized by all the leading systematists, down to the early -part of the 

 present century, and that confusion and obscurity originated vdtli the 

 French encyclopaedists, the two species being similarly more or less in- 

 volved at the hands of both Desmarest and F. Cuvier in the year 1817, 

 and that malidentification and confusion of synonymy have since been 

 the rule. It furthermore appears that the Linnsean name narica, when 

 used at all. has, since that date, covered only color-variations of the Lin- 

 naean nasua, and that the true iiarica of Linne finally became again 

 specifically distinguished in the leucorhyncJms of von Tschudi, and is at 

 last currently recognized under that name as the second and only other 

 valid species of the genus Nasua. 



These two species may be briefly diagnosed as follows : 



COMMOiS' Characters. — ^Nose produced, termmating in a bald, cartilaginous snout ; 

 tail nearly as long as tlie body. Skull narrow, long, the frontal region elevated ; 

 palate prolonged backward ; jiostorbital processes rudimentary in youth, well 

 developed in old age ; sagittal and occiiiital crests strongly developed in the males 

 in old age, but the former permanently obsolete in the females. Incisors ^^, of 

 moderate size, the outer upper separated from the others, and placed more pos- 

 teriorly; canines j^, all curved outward, greatly developed in the males, of 

 moderate size in the females ; the upper laterally compressed with cutting edges ; 

 the lower rather larger and subtriangular, with a deej) longitudinal groove on 

 the inner anterior border ; i^remolars ^; molars ^-^j. A small white spot above, 



another below the eye, and a third on the cheek Genus Nasua Storr. 



Differential Characters. — 1. Nose and edge of upper lip white, in strong con- 

 trast with the dark brown of the cheeks and facial region ; tail concolor with the 

 back, or with obsolete half-rings on the lower surface of the basal half. Pelage 

 long, soft, the long hairs of the dorsal surface tipped with rufous, fulvous, or 

 whitish. Hinder portion of the palate angularly dei^ressed medially., .narica. 

 2. Nose and upper lij) gray, uniform in color with the cheeks and facial region ; 

 tail conspicuously annulated with about 7 to 9 rather broad fulvous or rufous 

 rings, alternating with dusky or black ones. Pelage generally short, harsh, 

 shining, the long hairs of the dorsal surface usually black-tipped. Size smaller 

 and nasal region of the skull narrower than in the preceding ; palatal region 

 also narrower, with its posterior portion flat — not sharjily depressed in the mid- 

 dle, as ia the iireceding. Ears also rather longer and more pointed rvfa. 



etwas rothlich war ; allein im Uebrigen glichen sie ganz den Coatis des Siidens und 

 konnten hochstens als kMmatische Farbenvarietat betrachtet werden." — Loc. cit, p. 

 291. 



* His Costa Rican specimens, as shown by his descriptious and measurements of 

 them, were not fully grown, which accounts for his statement that the Costa Rican 

 species is smaller, it Joeing in reality larger. 



