Procyon (genus)

This article is about the genus. For the star, see Procyon. For the mountain range, see Procyon Peaks. For the US Navy's ships, see USS Procyon.

Procyon
Temporal range: Pliocene–Recent, 4.9–0 Ma
↓
Common raccoon (P. lotor)
Crab-eating raccoon (P. cancrivorus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Subfamily: Procyoninae
Tribe: Procyonini
Subtribe: Procyonina
Genus: Procyon
Storr, 1780
Type species
Ursus lotor
Species
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,[2][3][4] from which they diverged about 10 million years ago.[4]

  1. ^ Kurtén, Björn; and Anderson, Elaine (1980) Pleistocene Mammals of North America Columbia University Press, New York ISBN 0-231-03733-3
  2. ^ K.-P. Koepfli; M. E. Gompper; E. Eizirik; C.-C. Ho; L. Linden; J. E. Maldonado; R. K. Wayne (2007). "Phylogeny of the Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carvnivora): Molecules, morphology and the Great American Interchange". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 43 (3): 1076–1095. Bibcode:2007MolPE..43.1076K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.10.003. PMID 17174109.
  3. ^ Eizirik, E.; Murphy, W. J.; Koepfli, K.-P.; Johnson, W. E.; Dragoo, J. W.; Wayne, R. K.; O'Brien, S. J. (2010-02-04). "Pattern and timing of diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56 (1): 49–63. Bibcode:2010MolPE..56...49E. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.033. PMC 7034395. PMID 20138220.
  4. ^ a b Helgen, K. M.; Pinto, M.; Kays, R.; Helgen, L.; Tsuchiya, M.; Quinn, A.; Wilson, D.; Maldonado, J. (2013-08-15). "Taxonomic revision of the olingos (Bassaricyon), with description of a new species, the Olinguito". ZooKeys (324): 1–83. Bibcode:2013ZooK..324....1H. doi:10.3897/zookeys.324.5827. PMC 3760134. PMID 24003317.