Western lowland olingo

Western lowland olingo
The western lowland olingo sitting on a branch
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Bassaricyon
Species: B. medius
Binomial name
Bassaricyon medius
Thomas, 1909
Synonyms

Bassariscyon gabbi orinomus Goldman, 1912

The western lowland olingo (Bassaricyon medius) is a species of olingo from Central and South America, where it is known from Panama and from Colombia and Ecuador west of the Andes.[1]

Description

The western lowland olingo is smaller than the northern olingo, but larger than the most montane member of the genus, the recently described olinguito ("little olingo").[1] While the Panamanian subspecies B. m. orinomus is about the same size as the eastern lowland olingo, the subspecies from west of the Andes, B. m. medius is smaller.[1] The pelage is slightly lighter than that of the eastern species.[1]

It has a head-body length of 31 to 41 centimetres (12 to 16 in), with a tail length of 35 to 52 centimetres (14 to 20 in).[1] It weighs .9 to 1.2 kilograms (2.0 to 2.6 lb).[1]

Taxonomy

There are two subspecies of the western lowland olingo: the nominate B. m. medius (Colombia and Ecuador) and B. m. orinomus (Panama and possibly Colombia).[1] The closest relative of the western lowland olingo is the other lowland olingo species, B. alleni, found east of the Andes, from which it diverged about 1.3 million years ago.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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. doi:10.3897/zookeys.324.5827.
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