174 BULLETIlSr UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. [Yol.V. 



tlie generic name of tlie Coatis, — and introduced tlie names rvfa and 

 fusca, both of wiiich, as already shown, are referable to the V. nasua of 

 Linne. Maximilian, in 1826, deliberately ignored all the prior specific 

 names, and introduced in their place soclalis and soUtaria, both based 

 on the present species, although by some subsequent writers the latter 

 was adopted for the Linnsean narica. Ton Tschudi, in recognizing five 

 species of the genus Xasua, added two new synonyms to those of the 

 present species. 



The changes that have been rung on the various names above enu^ 

 merated, especially socialls and solitaria, are siifiiciently indicated in the 

 above table of synonymy, and in the general history of the literature re- 

 lating to the group already giA'en {antea, pp. 153-102). Other synonyms 

 of less iDrominence, although of earUer origin, are the Viverra vuljpecula 

 of Erxleben, abeady mentioned as a curious com]3ound of several widely 

 diverse species, including one unquestionably referable here. It is ap- 

 I^arently iDrimarily based on Brisson's "Blaireau de Surinam," which is 

 unquestionably the present species, but also included Buftbu's " Coase," 

 which is the Fisher or Mustela pennanti of recent authors. Gmelin's 

 Viverra quasje had in part the same origin, since it also included Bris- 

 son's "Blaireaude Surinam." Other less important or less prominent 

 synonyms are Desmarest's j\[yrmecoi)liagci annulata and the '■^Myrmeeo- 

 Ijliaga tetradactyla, h.^'^ of Grifiith's Animal Kingdom. Among later 

 synonyms are Gray's luisua oUvacea and N. dorsaUs, which relate only to 

 particidar phases of coloration. 



The Linnteau specific name nasua having become untenable through 

 its adoption in a generic sense, the first name strictly eligible, though by 

 no means eminently appropriate, as it had originally reference to only 

 a prominent color- variety of the species, is that of riifa of Desmarest. 

 SociaUs, applied later to the species in a broader sense, is otherwise not 

 especially distinctive, and is antedated by both rufa and fusca of Des- 

 marest, as well as by the barbarous term quasje. 



Geographical Distribution. — The present species appears to range 

 over the greater part of the continent of South America — certainly from 

 Surinam to Paraguay, and from the Atlantic coast to the Andes, — over • 

 which extensive region it is one of the most abundant of the carnivorous 

 mammals, and apparently the sole representative of its genus. The first 

 suggestion as to the correct limits of the habitat of the present species 

 seems to have been made by Dr. von Frantzius in 1869, as already cited, 

 he claiming that in all probability the. present species did not occur in 

 Costa Bica, and was therefore limited to the Southern Tropics, as the 

 Costa Eican species doubtless w^as to the ]S!"orthern Tropics. The exact 

 boundaries of the habitat of either species still remain to be determined, 

 as well as also 'vhether the two species anywhere occur together. 



