Bahamian Raccoon

The Bahamian raccoon (Procyon lotor maynardi), also called Bahama raccoon or Bahamas raccoon, is a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the common raccoon

Raccoon

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 , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

 endemic on the New Providence Island

New Providence

New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...

 in the Bahamas

The Bahamas

The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...

.

Classification

Thought to be a distinct species in the past, the Bahamian raccoon is now assumed to be conspecific with the common raccoon

Raccoon

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 , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

, what was also the result of a study of morphological

Morphological analysis

Morphological Analysis or General Morphological Analysis is a method developed by Fritz Zwicky for exploring all the possible solutions to a multi-dimensional, non-quantified problem complex.-Overview:...

 and genetic analysis

Genetic analysis

Genetic analysis can be used generally to describe methods both used in and resulting from the sciences of genetics and molecular biology, or to applications resulting from this research....

 in 2003. The assumption that its occurrence on the Bahamas is the result of a human-sponsored introduction just a few centuries ago is supported by the fact that the Bahaman raccoon seems to be closely related to the Guadeloupe raccoon

Guadeloupe Raccoon

The Guadeloupe raccoon is a subspecies of the common raccoon endemic on the two main islands Basse-Terre Island and Grande-Terre of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.- Classification :...

 found on Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

, an archipelago nearly 2,000 km (1,243 mi) away.

Description

The Bahamian raccoon is small compared to the average size of the common raccoon, making it probably an example of insular dwarfism

Insular dwarfism

Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals – typically mammals – when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is distinct from the intentional creation of dwarf...

. Its delicate skull and dentition

Dentition

Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age...

 are similar to the ones of the Guadeloupe raccoon and the small subspecies of the Florida Keys

Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...

. The coat is gray with a slight ocher tint on the neck and shoulders and the mask is interrupted by a distinct gap between the eyes. On the underparts, only few guard hair

Guard hair

Guard hairs are the longest, coarsest hairs in a mammal's coat, forming the topcoat . They taper to a point and protect the undercoat from the elements. They are often water repellent and stick out above the rest of the coat...

s cover the ground hair

Down hair

Down hairs, also called the ground hairs, are the very fine, fluffy hairs closest to the skin on some mammals. The hairs are short and crimped, which makes them highly efficient for trapping air and insulating the animal....

s.

Conservation

The authors of the study Taxonomic status and conservation relevance of the raccoons (Procyon spp.) of the West Indies (2003) hold that the Bahamian raccoon is an invasive species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 which itself poses a threat to the insular ecosystem

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

.The Government of the Bahamas has this species listed as up for eradication on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama.