The western mountain coati or western dwarf coati (''Nasuella olivacea'') is a small

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. Characteri ...

, 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 ...

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 narrowe ...

at altitudes of in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

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 ...

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: ' ...

.Helgen, K. M., R. Kays, L. E. Helgen, M. T. N. Tsuchiya-Jerep, C. M. Pinto, K. P. Koepfli, E. Eizirik, and J. E. Maldonado (2009). ''Taxonomic boundaries and geographic distributions revealed by an integrative systematic overview of the mountain coatis, Nasuella (Carnivora: Procyonidae).'' Small Carnivore Conservation. 41: 65–74 A population discovered in the Apurímac–

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

region of 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 = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

(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. ...

. Until 2009, the western mountain coati (then simply known as the mountain coati) usually included the

eastern mountain coati The eastern mountain coati or eastern dwarf coati (''Nasuella meridensis'') is a small procyonid found in cloud forest and páramo at elevations of in the Andes of western Venezuela. Until 2009, it was included as a subspecies of the western ...

as a

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 specie ...

, but that species 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 on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

, 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). When the two were combined, they were rated 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 ...

, but following the split the western mountain coati is considered

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

. 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 w ...

currently considers ''N. meridensis'' a synonym of ''N. olivacea''.Ruiz-García, M., Jaramillo, M. F., Cáceres-Martínez, C. H., & Shostell, J. M. (2020). The phylogeographic structure of the mountain coati (Nasuella olivacea; Procyonidae, Carnivora), and its phylogenetic relationships with other coati species (Nasua nasua and Nasua narica) as inferred by mitochondrial DNA. Mammalian Biology, 1-28. There are two subspecies of the western mountain coati: ''N. o. olivacea'' and the slightly smaller and darker ''N. o. quitensis'' with less distinct rings on the tail. The former is known from Colombia and the latter from Ecuador, but the exact distribution limit between the two is not known.

References

Procyonidae Carnivorans of South America Mammals of the Andes Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Páramo fauna Near threatened biota of South America Mammals described in 1865 Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{carnivora-stub