White-nosed Coati

About the White-nosed Coati

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 antoon, gato solo, pizote, and tejón, depending upon the region. It weighs about 4–6 kg (8.8–13.2 lb), and the nose-to-tail length of the species is about 110 cm (3.6 ft) with about half of that being the tail length. However, small females can weigh as little as 3.1 kg (6.8 lb), while large males can weigh as much as 9 kg (20 lb).

The white-nosed coati is distributed from as far north as Flagstaff, Arizona, New Mexico, through Mexico, Central America, and the far northwestern region of Colombia near the border with Panama. It inhabits wooded areas in tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests at elevations from sea level to 3,000 m (9,800 ft).

Coatis from Cozumel Island have been treated as a separate species, the Cozumel Island coati, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies, N. narica nelsoni, of the white-nosed coati. They are smaller than white-nosed coatis... Wikipedia →