Cozumel Island Raccoon
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Cozumel Island Raccoon
The Cozumel raccoon (''Procyon pygmaeus''), is a critically endangered species of island raccoon endemic on Cozumel Island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. It is also called the pygmy raccoon, dwarf raccoon, Cozumel Island raccoon, and Cozumel raccoon bear. Classification Clinton Hart Merriam first described the Cozumel raccoon as morphologically distinctive from its mainland relative, the common raccoon subspecies ''Procyon lotor hernandezii'', in 1901. Since then, other scientists have generally agreed with Merriam's assessment, especially Kristofer Helgen and Don E. Wilson, who have dismissed this classification for the other four island raccoons in their studies in 2003 and 2005. Therefore, the Cozumel raccoon was listed as the only distinct species of the genus ''Procyon'' besides the common raccoon and the crab-eating raccoon in the third edition of ''Mammal Species of the World''. An archeological study showed that Maya from Cozumel used raccoons of reduc ...
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Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the 'father of mammalogy', a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals. Early life Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855 to Clinton Levi Merriam, a U.S. congressman, and Caroline Hart, a judge's daughter and a graduate of Rutgers Institute. The name Clinton, shared by both father and son, was in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, whom the Merriam family had connections with. To avoid confusion, the younger Merriam went by his first initial combined with his middle name, his mother's maiden name, and thus often appears as C. Hart Merriam in both the literature of his time and thereafter. Although born in New York City, where his parents were staying the winter, the family home and place where Merriam spent his boyhood days was ...
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Raccoons Of North & Middle America (1950) P
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of . Its grayish coat mostly consists of dense underfur, which insulates it against cold weather. Three of the raccoon's most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws, its facial mask, and its ringed tail, which are themes in the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas relating to the animal. The raccoon is noted for its intelligence, as studies show that it is able to remember the solution to tasks for at least three years. It is usually nocturnal and omnivorous, eating about 40% invertebrates, 33% plants, and 27% vertebrates. The original habitats of the raccoon are deciduous and mixed forests, but due to their adaptability, they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes, and urban ar ...
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Carnivorans Of North America
Carnivora is a monophyletic order of placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all cat-like and dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are formally referred to as carnivorans, and have evolved to specialize in eating flesh. The order is the fifth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivorans live on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging from the cold polar regions to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert to the open seas. They come in a very large array of different body plans in contrasting shapes and sizes. Carnivora can be divided into two subclades: the cat-like Feliformia and the dog-like Caniformia, which are differentiated based on the structure of their ear bones and cranial features. The feliforms include families such as the cats, the hyenas, the mongooses and the civets. The majority of feliform species are found in the Old World, though the cat ...
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Mammals Of Mexico
This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in Mexico. As of September 2014, there were 536 mammalian species or subspecies listed. Based on International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN data, Mexico has 23% more noncetacean mammal species than the U.S. and Canada combined in an area only 10% as large, or a species density over 12 times that of its northern neighbors. Mexico's high mammal biodiversity is in part a reflection of the wide array of biomes present over its latitudinal, climatic and altitudinal ranges, from lowland tropical rainforest to temperate desert to montane forest to alpine tundra. The general increase in terrestrial biodiversity moving towards the equator is another important factor in the comparison. Mexico includes much of the Mesoamerica#Biodiversity, Mesoamerican and Madrean pine-oak woodlands biodiversity hotspots. From a biogeographic standpoint, most of Mexico is linked to the rest of North America as part of the Nearctic realm. Howeve ...
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Endemic Fauna Of Cozumel
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ...
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Procyonidae
Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Characteristics Procyonids are relatively small animals, with generally slender bodies and long tails, though the common raccoon tends to be bulky. Because of their general build, the Procyonidae are often popularly viewed as smaller cousins of the bear family. This is apparent in their German names: a raccoon is called a ''Waschbär'' (washing bear, as it "washes" its food before eating), a coati is a ''Nasenbär'' (nose-bear), while a kinkajou is a ''Honigbär'' (honey-bear). Dutch follows suit, calling the animals ''wasbeer'', ''neusbeer'' and ''rolstaartbeer'' respectively. However, it is now believed that procyonids are more closely related to mustelids than to bears. Procyonids share common morphological characteristics including a shortened ...
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Cozumel Raccoon1
Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The municipality is part of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The economy of Cozumel is based on tourism, with visitors able to benefit from the island's balnearios, scuba diving, and snorkeling. The main town on the island is San Miguel de Cozumel. Etymology The name ''Cozumel'' was derived from the Mayan "Cuzamil" or "Ah Cuzamil Peten" in full, which means "the island of swallows" ( es, link=no, Isla de las Golondrinas). Geography The island is located in the Caribbean Sea along the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula about south of Cancún and from the mainland. The island is about long and wide. With a total area of , it is Mexico's largest Caribbean island, largest permanently inhabited island, and Mexico's third ...
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Punta Sur
Punta Sur marks the southern point of Cozumel and is part of the Parque Punta Sur, a ecological park that covers the reefs, beaches, lagoons, and low forest of the surrounding area. The reef system is also part of the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park. The Celarain lighthouse (''Faro de Celarain'') sits on the Punta Sur promontory (''Punta Celarain'') and is part of a nautical museum. Just northeast of it is the Caracol (''Tumba del Caracol''), a Maya building erected during the post-classic period. There is a persistent myth, often repeated by tour guides, that the building functioned as a weather alarm, producing a whistle that would precede the arrival of a hurricane, but that is only a legend. The idea that the building somehow functioned as a lighthouse or beacon used to send signals to the mainland is another legend, but also incorrect; it was a temple and nothing more. Some of the sandy beaches are protected to allow hatching for sea turtles. Observation towers hav ...
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Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs, and became widely distributed in part due to the plate tectonics, movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of Nypa fruticans, mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and a complex root system to cope with saltwater immersion and wave action. They are ad ...
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Cozumel Fox
''Urocyon'' (Greek: "tailed dog") is a genus of Canidae which includes the gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus'') and the island fox (''Urocyon littoralis''). These two fox species are found in the Western Hemisphere. Whole genome sequencing indicates that ''Urocyon'' is the most Basal (phylogenetics), basal genus of the living canids. Fossils of what is believed to be the ancestor of the gray fox, ''Urocyon progressus'', have been found in Kansas and date to the Upper Pliocene, with some undescribed specimens dating even older. Extant species Cozumel fox The Cozumel fox is a critically endangered or extinct small gray fox found on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. The last reported sighting was in 2001, but surveys focusing on this species have not yet been carried out. The Cozumel fox has not been scientifically described, but is a Insular dwarfism, dwarf form as is the island fox, but slightly larger being up to three-quarters the size of the gray fox. No skins or complete s ...
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Cozumel Island Coati
The Cozumel coati (''Nasua narica nelsoni''), or Cozumel Island coati, is a coati from the Mexican island of Cozumel, in the Caribbean Sea. It is in the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons, olingos, and kinkajous. Taxonomy It has been treated as a species, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies of the white-nosed coati.Kays, R. (2009). White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica), pp. 527-528 in: Wilson, D. E., and R. A. Mittermeier, eds. (2009). ''Handbook of the Mammals of the World.'' Vol. 1, Carnivores. Cozumel Island coatis are slightly smaller than the white-nosed coatis of the adjacent mainland (''N. n. yucatanica''); but, when compared more widely to white-nosed coatis, the difference in size is not as clear.Decker, D. M. (1991). Systematics Of The Coatis, Genus Nasua (Mammalia, Procyonidae).'' Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 104: 370-386 The level of other differences also support its status as a subspecies rather t ...
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