The kinkajou (/ˈkɪŋkədʒuː/ KING-kə-joo; Potos flavus) is a mammal of the family Procyonidae, a relative to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos and is also known as the honey bear (a name shared with several unrelated species). Though kinkajous are arboreal, they are not closely related to any other tree-dwelling mammal group (primates, mustelids, etc.). Native to tropical rainforests of Mexico, Central and South America, this mostly frugivorous mammal is seldom seen by people because of its strict nocturnal habits. However, it is hunted for the pet trade, its skin (to make wallets and horse saddles), and its meat. The species has been included in Appendix III of CITES by Honduras, which means that exports from Honduras require an export permit, and exports from other countries require a certificate of origin or of re-export. They may live up to 40 years in captivity.
Nomenclature
Etymology The common name kinkajou derives from French quincajou, based on the Algonquian name for the wolverine. It is similar to the Ojibwe word gwiingwaʼaage, perhaps from a Proto-Algonquian *kwi·nkwaʔa·ke. Its other names in English include honey bear, night ape, and night walker. Throughout its range, several regional names are used; for instance, the Dutch names nachtaap, rolbeer, and rolstaartbeer are used in Suriname. Local names in Portuguese and Spanish include jupará, yapará, huasa, cuchi cuchi, leoncillo, marta, and perro de monte; many of these come from indigenous languages such as Old Tupi.
Taxonomy A. M. Husson, of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (Leiden), discussed the rather complicated nomenclature of the kinkajou in The Mammals of Suriname (1978). In his 1774 work Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, Schreber listed three items under the name "Lemur flavus Penn.": on page 145 is a short translation of Pennant's description of the yellow maucauco (later identified to be Lemur mongoz, presently known as the mongoose lemur) from his 1771 work A Synopsis of Quadrupeds (page 138, second figure on plate 16); on plate 42 is a depiction of the yellow maucauco by Schreber; the last item is a reference to A Synopsis of Quadrupeds itself. Husson noted that the last item is actually Pennant's description of an animal that is clearly a kinkajou. Husson therefore concluded that Lemur flavus is actually a "composite species" based on Schreber's specimen of the mongoose lemur and Pennant's specimen of the kinkajou, and identified the latter as the lectotype for the species. The type locality reported by Schreber for L. flavus ("the mountains in Jamaica") was clearly based on Pennant's description of the kinkajou, who claimed, however, that his specimen was "shown about three years ago in London: its keeper said it came from the mountains of Jamaica". This error was pointed out by Thomas in 1902, who corrected the type locality to Suriname. He used the name Potos flavus for the kinkajou. The genus Potos was erected by Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier in 1795, with the type species Viverra caudivolvula described by Schreber in 1778 (later identified as a synonym of Potos flavus). In 1977 the family Cercoleptidae was proposed with the kinkajou as the sole member, but this classification was later dismissed.
Subspecies Eight subspecies have been proposed (type localities are listed alongside):
P. f. chapadensis J. A. Allen, 1904: Chapadas of Mato Grosso (Brazil) P. f. chiriquensis J. A. Allen, 1904: Boquerón, Chiriquí Province (Panama) P. f. flavus (Schreber, 1774): Suriname. Synonyms include Cercoleptes brachyotos, C. brachyotus, Mustela potto, and Viverra caudivolvula P. f. megalotus (Martin, 1836): Santa Marta (Colombia) P. f. meridensis Thomas, 1902: Mérida (Venezuela) P. f. modestus Thomas, 1902: Montes Balzar, Guayas Province (Ecuador) P. f. nocturnus (Wied, 1826): São Miguel dos Campos, Alagoas (Brazil) P. f. prehensilis (Kerr, 1792): Veracruz (Mexico)
A 2016 phylogenetic study based on mitochondrial gene cytochrome b analyzed kinkajou specimens from a variety of locations throughout most of their range. The results showed 27 haplotypes split into five clades corresponding to geographical divisions: Costa Rica (clade 1), northern Brazil and the Guianas (clade 2), northern Peru (clade 3), Ecuador and Panama (clade 4), interfluves between the Branco River and Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon, low-lying Amazonian areas (in Bolivia, western Brazil and Peru), and eastern Atlantic Forest (clade 5). Given the diverse clades, the researchers suggested that some of the subspecies might be independent species.
Evolution Molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates that kinkajous are the sister group to all other lineages within Procyonidae, having diverged from the rest of the Procyonidae 24 to 21.6 million years ago, in the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. Subsequent evolutionary radiation would lead to two clades, one leading to Bassaricyon (olingos and the olinguito) plus Nasua (coatis), and another leading to Bassariscus (the ring-tailed cat and the cacomistle) plus Procyon (racoons); both appeared during the Miocene (23.8 to 5.3 million years ago). Kinkajous are thought to have evolved in North America and entered South America as part of the Great American Interchange that followed the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. The phylogenetic relationships obtained in Koepfli et al. (2007) are given below; these were supported by subsequent studies.
Physical characteristics
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