Procyon (genus)

File:Procyon pygmaeus cub.jpg

Cozumel raccoon (P. pygmaeus)

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals comprising three species commonly known as raccoons in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon (P. lotor), is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are less well known. Genetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of raccoons are the ring-tailed cats and cacomistles of genus Bassariscus,<ref name="Koepfli2007">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="EizirikMurphy2010">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=ZooKeys>Template:Cite journal</ref> from which they diverged about 10 million years ago.<ref name=ZooKeys/>

General attributes

Raccoons are unusual, for their thumbs (though not opposable) enable them to open many closed containers (such as garbage cans and doors). They are omnivores with a reputation for being clever and mischievous; their intelligence and dexterity equip them to survive in a wide range of environments and are one of the few medium-to-large-sized animals that have enlarged their range since human encroachment began (another is the coyote). Raccoon hindfeet are plantigrade similar to those of humans and bears. Raccoons are sometimes considered vermin or a nuisance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They have readily adapted to urban environments (compare urban opossums, skunks and foxes), scavenging garbage bins and other food sources.

Although there is some variation depending on species, raccoons range from Template:Convert in length (including the tail) and weigh between Template:Convert. The raccoon's tail ranges from Template:Convert in length. Male raccoons are generally larger than females. A baby raccoon is called a kit.<ref>Raccoon facts</ref>

Raccoons can live up to 16 years in the wild, though most do not make it through their second year. A raccoon that survives past its youth will live an average of five years. Primary causes of mortality include humans (hunting, trapping, cars) and malnutrition.<ref>ADW: Procyon lotor: Information</ref>

Species

There are three extant species of raccoon:

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Description	Distribution
File:Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 3.jpg	Procyon lotor	Raccoon, common raccoon, northern raccoon	Raccoons can live in the city or the wild. While not domesticated, they are—on rare occasion—kept as pets.	Southern Canada to Panama, and has been introduced to continental Europe and the Japanese archipelago
File:Szop rakojad-2.jpg	P. cancrivorus	Crab-eating raccoon, southern raccoon	Based on genetic studies, the lineages of common and crab-eating raccoons are thought to have separated about 4.2 million years ago.<ref name=ZooKeys/> Shorter fur and more gracile.	Costa Rica through most areas of South America east of the Andes down to northern Argentina and Uruguay.
File:Cozumel Raccoon2.jpg	P. pygmaeus	Cozumel raccoon, pygmy raccoon	Smaller head and body than the common raccoon. Tail has yellow tint.	Cozumel, an island off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán peninsula.

Some raccoons once considered as separate species are now thought to be the same as or subspecies of the common raccoon, including the Barbados raccoon (P. gloveralleni), Nassau raccoon (P. maynardi), Guadeloupe raccoon (P. minor), and Tres Marias raccoon (P. insularis) (Helgen and Wilson 2005). Procyon brachyurus Template:Aut was described from captive specimens; its identity is undeterminable as the remains of the two animals assigned to this taxon cannot be located and may have been lost.

File:Raccoons of North & Middle America (1950) P. lotor & P. pygmaeus.png

Raccoon skull (left) and Cozumel raccoon skull (right)

Nomenclature

The word "raccoon" is derived from the Algonquian word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "he who scratches with his hands". Spanish-speaking colonists similarly adopted their term, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} the Nahuatl word for the animal, meaning roughly "that which has hands".

The genus name, Procyon, comes from the Greek for "before the dog"; this term is also used for the star Procyon of the constellation Canis Minor.

Raccoons are today understood to have a relatively loose evolutionary relationship with bears, which was nonetheless seen as significant by the early taxonomists; Carl Linnaeus initially placed the raccoon in the genus Ursus. In many languages, the raccoon is named for its characteristic dousing behavior in conjunction with that language's term for "bear": {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in German, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Hungarian, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Danish and Norwegian, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Swedish, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Dutch, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Estonian and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Finnish, Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Japanese, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Italian, Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Chinese and Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Bulgarian all mean "washing bear". One exception is Russian, where raccoon is named Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) due to similarity between raccoon and genet furs. However, the full name of the common raccoon in Russian is also water-related: it is called Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which means "rinsing raccoon".

In some cases, the "washing" descriptor is applied only to the common raccoon species: for example, in French the common raccoon is called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or "washing rat", while its Linnaean binomial is Procyon lotor or, roughly, "washing pre-dog". In contrast, the crab-eating raccoon is "little crab-catching rat" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) and "crab-eating pre-dog" (Procyon cancrivorus) in French and Latin, respectively.

Literature

• Template:Cite journal
• Helgen, K.M. & Wilson, D.E. 2005. A systematic and zoogeographic overview of the raccoons of Mexico and Central America. Pp. 219–234 in Sanchez-Cordero, V. & Medellin, R.A. (eds.). Contribuciones Mastozoologicas: en Homenaje a Bernardo Villa. Mexico City: Instituto de Biologia e Instituto de Ecologia, UNAM.

See also

• List of procyonids - all species in the parent family Procyonidae
• Raccoon dog - an unrelated animal sometimes confused with raccoons
• Red panda

External links

• Raccoons on Bear Tracker
• World Wide Raccoon Web Gallery