Coatis, genera Nasua and Nasuella, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejón, hog-nosed coon,^[1] pizotes, Panamanian Gatosolo, crackoons and snookum bears, are members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae). They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America. The word "coatimundi" ( /koʊˌɑːtɨˈmʌndi/) is a commonly used misnomer applied to solitary adult males of N. nasua.^{[citation needed]} The term is reported to be derived from the Tupi language (Paraguay).^[2]

Physical characteristics

Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 in) from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. Coatis are about 30 cm (12 in) tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 2 and 8 kg (4.4 and 18 lb), about the size of a large house cat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp canine teeth. The above measurements are for the white-nosed and South America coatis. The two mountain coatis are smaller.^[3]

All coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling.

Ring-tailed coatis have either a light brown or black coat, with a lighter under-part and a white-ringed tail in most cases. Coatis have a long brown tail with rings on it which are anywhere from starkly defined like a raccoon's to very faint. Like raccoons and unlike ring-tailed cats and cacomistles, the rings go completely around the tail. Coatis often hold the tail erect, and it used as such to keep troops of coatis together in tall vegetation. The tip of the tail can be moved a bit on its own, as is the case with cats, but it is not prehensile as is that of the kinkajou, another procyonid.

Coatis have bear- and raccoon-like paws, and coatis, raccoons, and bears walk plantigrade (on the soles of the feet, as do humans). Coatis have nonretractable claws. Coatis also are, in common with raccoons and other procyonids (and others in the order Carnivora and rare cases amongst other mammals), double-jointed and their ankles can rotate beyond 180°; they are therefore able to descend trees head first. Other animals living in forests have acquired some or all of these properties through convergent evolution, including members of the mongoose, civet, cat, and bear families. Some of these animals walk on the toes of the front paws and soles of the back paws.

The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like (see Suidae) and extremely flexible and can be rotated up to 60° in any direction, the former being part of the reason for its nickname the hog-nosed raccoon. The nose is used to push objects and rub parts of their body. The facial markings include white markings around the eyes and on the ears and snout.

Coatis have strong limbs to climb and dig, and have a reputation for intelligence, like their fellow procyonid, the raccoon. They prefer to sleep or rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy, in crudely-built sleeping nests. Coatis are active day and night.

Habitat and range

Overall, coatis are widespread, occupying habitats ranging from hot and arid areas to humid Amazonian rainforests or even cold Andean mountain slopes, including grasslands and bushy areas. Their geographical range extends from the southwestern U.S. (southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) through northern Argentina. Around 10 coatis are thought to have formed a breeding population in Cumbria, UK.^[4]

Taxonomy

The following species are recognized:^[5][3]

• Genus Nasua
  • Nasua narica (Linnaeus, 1766) – white-nosed coati (Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and Colombia)
  • Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766) – South American coati (South America)
• Genus Nasuella
  • Nasuella meridensis (Thomas, 1901) – Eastern mountain coati (Venezuela)
  • Nasuella olivacea (Gray, 1865) – Western mountain coati (Colombia and Ecuador)

The Cozumel Island coati has also been recognized as a species, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies, N. narica nelsoni, of the white-nosed coati.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Genetic evidence has suggested the genus Nasuella should be merged into Nasua, as the latter otherwise is paraphyletic.^[3] Other genetic studies have shown the closest relatives of the coatis are the olingos.^[10]

Lifespan

In the wild, coatis live for about seven to eight years, while in captivity they can live for up to 15 years.

Feeding habits

Coatis are omnivores; their diet consists mainly of ground litter invertebrates such as tarantula and fruit (Alves-Costa et al.. 2004, 2007, Hirsch 2007). They also eat small vertebrate prey, such as lizards, rodents, small birds, birds' eggs, and crocodile eggs. The snout, with a formidable sense of smell, assists the skilled paws in a hog-like manner to unearth invertebrates.

Behavior

Little is known about the behavior of the mountain coatis,^[3] and the following is almost entirely about the coatis of the genus Nasua. Unlike most members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), coatis are primarily diurnal. Coati females and young males up to two years of age are gregarious and travel through their territories in noisy, loosely-organized bands made up of four to 25 individuals, foraging with their offspring on the ground or in the forest canopy. Males over two years become solitary due to behavioural disposition and collective aggression from the females, and will join the female groups only during the breeding season.

When provoked, or for defense, coatis can be fierce fighters; their strong jaws, sharp canine teeth, and fast scratching paws, along with a tough hide sturdily attached to the underlying muscles, make it very difficult for potential predators (e.g., dogs or jaguars) to seize the smaller mammal.

Coatis communicate their intentions or moods with chirping, snorting, or grunting sounds. Different chirping sounds are used to express joy during social grooming, appeasement after fights, or to convey irritation or anger. Snorting while digging, along with an erect tail, states territorial or food claims during foraging. Coatis additionally use special postures or moves to convey simple messages; for example, hiding the nose between the front paws as a sign for submission; lowering the head, baring teeth, and jumping at an enemy signal an aggressive disposition. Individuals recognize other coatis by their looks, voices, and smells, the individual smell is intensified by special musk-glands on their necks and bellies.

Coatis from Panama are known to rub their own fur and that of other troop members with resin from Trattinnickia aspera trees, but its purpose is unclear. Some proposed possibilities are it serves as an insect repellent, a fungicide, or as a form of scent-marking.^[11]

Reproduction

Coati breeding season mainly corresponds with the start of the rainy season to coincide with maximum availability of food, especially fruits: between January and March in some areas, and between October and February in others. During the breeding season, an adult male is accepted into the band of females and juveniles near the beginning of the breeding season, leading to a polygynous mating system.

The pregnant females separate from the group, build a nest on a tree or in a rocky niche and, after a gestation period of about 11 weeks, give birth to litters of three to seven kits. About six weeks after birth, the females and their young will rejoin the band. Females become sexually mature at two years of age, while males will acquire sexual maturity at three years of age.

Natural enemies

Besides humans, the principal predators of coatis are other carnivorans. Enemies include jaguarundis, foxes, dogs, tayras, ocelots and jaguars. However, large raptors, such as Ornate Hawk-Eagles, Black-and-chestnut Eagles and Harpy Eagles, also are known to hunt them.^[12] White-faced capuchin monkeys also hunt their pups.^[13]

Status

Coatis face unregulated hunting and the serious threat of environmental destruction in Central and South America. The absence of scientifically sound population studies of Nasua or Nasuella in the wild is probably leading to a severe underestimation of the ecological problems and decline in numbers affecting the species.^{[citation needed]}

Successful adaptation to life in human proximity (e.g., similar to raccoons living in metropolitan areas in the U.S.) is very unlikely; the species is thus threatened by habitat destruction.^{[citation needed]}

Coatis in captivity

Coatis are one of five groups of procyonids commonly kept as pets in various parts of North, Central and South America, the others being the raccoons (common and crab-eating), the kinkajou, the ring-tailed cat and cacomistle. However, while both the white-nosed and South America coatis are common in captivity, mountain coatis are extremely rare in captivity.^[14][15]

Coatis are small creatures that can be wild, somewhat difficult to control or train in some cases, and generally behave in a manner radically different from that of a pet dog.^[16] Optimally, they should have a spacious outdoor enclosure and a coati-proofed room in the house and/or other climate-controlled place, as well. They can be given the run of the house but need careful watching, more careful in some cases than others.

It is possible to litter or toilet train coatis;^[17] if one cannot be trained as such, it is still possible to lessen problems in that they tend to designate a latrine area which can have a litter pan placed in it as is done with many ferrets, pet skunks, rabbits, and rodents.^[17] Coatis generally need both dog and cat vaccines for distemper and many other diseases and a killed rabies vaccine. They can be spayed or neutered for the same reason as cats and dogs and other pets.

Gallery

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  White-nosed coati at Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

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  White-nosed coati at Tikal, Guatemala

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  South American coati, Nasua nasua, in an English zoo

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  White-nosed coati in Rincón de la Vieja National Park, Costa Rica

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  South American coati near Iguaçu Falls, Brazil

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  White-nosed coati on Mt. Hopkins near Madera Canyon, Arizona

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  Coati from zoo in Czech republic

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  Coati foraging in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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  South American coati seeking discarded food in the Iguazú [Falls] National Park of Argentina

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  White-nosed coati on the side of a road in Costa Rica

References

Nasua is a genus within the Raccoon family, Procyonidae. The two species within the genus Nasua are generally referred to as coatis. Two additional species of coatis, commonly known as mountain coatis, are placed in the genus Nasuella. Nasua differs from Nasuella in being larger and having larger canine teeth,^[2] but preliminary genetic evidence suggests Nasuella should be merged into Nasua.^[3] Other genetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of the coatis are the olingos (genus Bassaricyon).^[4]

Like other procyonids,^[5] coatis are omnivores. Their diet consists largely of insects, insect larvae, spiders and other invertebrates and the occasional small vertebrate discovered while energetically foraging, their sensitive noses to the ground, in forest leaf litter. On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, where they have been studied in greatest detail,^[6][7] they supplement this diet with copious amounts of fruit as it becomes available seasonally from favored trees such as figs (Ficus insipida) and hog plums (Spondias mombin).

Fig. 1: Coati band mutual grooming during reaggregation

Their very active foraging behavior appears to be interrelated with their distinctive social organization. Exceptional among procyonids, coatis are diurnal and for much of the year gregarious. Though females nest, and bear and nurse their young in isolation, shortly after the altricial young become mobile the females aggregate into social groups known as bands. Bands consist of adult females (two or more years old), and sub-adults (1 – 2 years old) and juveniles (< 1 year old) of both sexes. At maturity at two years of age, males are excluded from bands and take up a solitary lifestyle. They are aggressively repelled from bands, except during the mating season when typically one male ingratiates himself to a band through submissive behavior, forages with it for a period of a few weeks, and mates with all of the adult females. During the nesting season, the sub-adults and juveniles remain together in bands while breeding adult females become solitary for parturition and nesting. Females begin breeding in their 3rd or 4th year, apparently depending on nutritional status. Occasionally older females become postreproductive, and these remain with the bands while breeding females separate. Breeding is synchronous, as is parturition and nursing. Resumption of gregarious behavior takes place synchronously as well, over the course of several weeks, depending on the existence of previous social relationships, i.e. females with prior relationships reaggregate into bands more quickly than those forming new relationships. Nonetheless, persistent social bonds may form anew at this point in the reproductive cycle – while there may be a tendency to reaggregate with kin, prior relationships are not indispensable. Previously unfamiliar individuals may aggregate into bands with stable social relationships. A conspicuous means of bond formation is mutual grooming, on which an hour or more may be spent daily. Some of this appears to be ritualized as a form of social bond formation (Fig. 1), though it is clearly mutually beneficial as well – the burden of ticks on band members is lower than it is on solitary adult males, for instance.^[8]

Fig. 2: Three infant coatis with their mother

When juveniles descend from the nest, they are little better than helpless (Fig. 2). One important benefit of aggregating for the adult females is sharing of vigilance in protection of juveniles from predation. Juvenile mortality is high, sources of peril including adult male coatis which have been observed to kill them.^[9] It is not entirely clear whether adult males are preying on them or killing potential rivals, and of course it may be both. The active foraging behavior of coatis is fairly conspicuous, and requires a considerable degree of attention. The proportion of time that adult females spend foraging increases, and the proportion of foraging time interrupted for stationary vigilance behavior decreases, when aggregation into bands is achieved. Bands forage in formation, with adults and sub-adults distributed around the periphery, and juveniles gathered towards the center. This shared vigilance appears to be an important contributor to the benefit of gregariousness for coatis.

Species

The two species within Nasua are:

• N. narica (Linnaeus, 1766) - White-nosed Coati, Pizote, or Antoon (Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and northwest Colombia)
• N. nasua (Linnaeus, 1766) - South American Coati (South America)

A third species, the Cozumel Island coati, has been recognized as a species, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies, N. narica nelsoni, of the white-nosed coati.^{[1][10][11][12][13]}

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References