Mountain coatis are two species of

procyonid 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. Character ...

mammals from the genus ''Nasuella''. Unlike the larger

coati Coatis, also known as coatimundis (), are members of the family Procyonidae in the genera ''Nasua'' and ''Nasuella''. They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. The name ...

s from the genus ''

Nasua ''Nasua'' is a genus of coatis of the family Procyonidae. Two additional species of coatis, commonly known as mountain coatis, are placed in the genus ''Nasuella''. Characteristics ''Nasua'' differs from ''Nasuella'' in being larger and h ...

'', mountain coatis only weigh and are

endemic 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 elsew ...

to the north

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

highlands in South America.

Genetics and taxonomy

Genetic evidence indicates that the genus ''Nasua'' is only

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

if it also includes the mountain coatis. Based on

cytochrome b Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. F ...

sequences, ''

Nasua nasua The South American coati (''Nasua nasua''), also known as the ring-tailed coati, is a coati species and a member of the raccoon family ( Procyonidae), found in the tropical and subtropical parts of South America. An adult generally weighs from ...

'' is the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

consisting of ''

Nasua narica The white-nosed coati (''Nasua narica''), also known as the coatimundi (), is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae (raccoons and their relatives). Local Spanish names for the species include ''pizote'', ''antoon'', and ''t ...

'' plus both species of ''Nasuella''. Until recently only a single species with three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

was recognized. In 2009 this species was split into two species, the eastern mountain coati (''N. meridensis'') from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and the

western mountain coati The western mountain coati or western dwarf coati (''Nasuella olivacea'') is a small Procyonidae, procyonid, found in cloud forest and páramo at altitudes of in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador.Helgen, K. M., R. Kays, L. E. Helgen, M. T. N. T ...

(''N. olivacea'', with subspecies ''quitensis'') from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. After a genetic analysis in 2020, the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

currently considers ''N. meridensis'' a synonym of ''N. olivacea''.

Range and description

Externally, the two species of mountain coatis are quite similar, but the eastern mountain coati is overall smaller, somewhat shorter-tailed on average, has markedly smaller teeth, a paler

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

-brown

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily #Guard hair, guard hair on top and thick #Down hair, underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as ...

, and usually a dark mid-dorsal stripe on the back (versus more

rufescent Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a di ...

or blackish, and usually without a dark mid-dorsal stripe in the western mountain coati). Both are found in

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

and

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

; at altitudes of for the eastern mountain coati, and for the western mountain coati. A population discovered in southern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

(more than south of the previous distribution limit) has tentatively been identified as the western mountain coati, but may represent an

undescribed taxon In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

Rare and little known

They are very poorly known, and the "combined species" (when only one species was recognized) has been classified as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. Their behavior largely appears to resemble that of the better-known ''

'' coatis, although the mountain coatis feed less on fruit.Rodríguez-Bolaños, A., A. Cadena, and P. Sánchez (2000). ''Trophic characteristics in social groups of the Mountain coati, Nasuella olivacea (Carnivora: Procyonidae).'' Small Carnivore Conservation 23: 1–6. Unlike the ''Nasua'' coatis, mountain coatis are very rare in captivity. Among

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

registered institutions, only three

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

s (all in the USA) reported that they had mountain coatis in early 2011, but at least one of these appears to be a case of misidentification. A mountain coati that was confiscated from

poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

is kept at Bioparque la Reserva in Cota, Colombia.

References

External links

ARKive ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the worl ...

(2010).
Nasuella olivacea in Ecuador.
' Photo by Nigel Simpson/ Jocotoco Foundation. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2895094 Procyonidae Mammal genera Páramo fauna Taxa named by Ned Hollister