What animals are in the Procyonidae family?
Procyonidae includes raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. It is a New World family within the order Carnivora, and its members are generally omnivorous.
Questions about Procyonidae
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Are Procyonidae actually related to bears?
No, procyonids are now believed to be more closely related to mustelids than to bears, despite resembling small bears. German names like Waschbär for raccoon and Honigbär for kinkajou reflect the old bear comparison.
How many teeth do Procyonidae have?
Most procyonids have a total of 40 teeth. The kinkajou is the exception, with one fewer premolar in each row, giving it 36 teeth in all.
When did Procyonidae first appear in the fossil record?
Procyonid fossils once attributed to the genus Bassariscus date to the Miocene epoch, around 20 million years ago. Early procyonids may have branched off from the canids before adapting to a more omnivorous diet.
How are the Procyonidae classified into subfamilies?
The living family divides into two subfamilies: Procyoninae, with nine species in four genera, and Potosinae, with five species in two genera. The red panda was once placed here but is now in its own family, the Ailuridae.
Which Procyonidae species is the oldest evolutionary branch?
Kinkajous are a sister group to all other living procyonids and split off about 22.6 million years ago. The branches leading to coatis and olingos and to ringtails and raccoons separated about 17.7 million years ago.