North American Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History

Authority

• First published description: Lichtenstein, 1830

Common name

• Genus Bassariscus
• Contains 2 species
• Collectively known as ringtails (Wilson and Cole 2000)
• B. sumichrasti, the true cacomistle
• Inhabit more humid, tropical forests compared to the ringtail, B. astutus (Zeveloff 2002)
• B. astutus has many common names:
  • Ringtail; commonly used
  • Ring-tailed cat; commonly used
    • From ringed tail and cat-like behavior (Poglayen-Neuwall 1990)
  • Civet cat, ring-tailed civet cat (Grinnel et al 1937; Taylor 1954)
    • Because of its musk; though not a true civet cat (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)
  • Cacomistle or cacomixtle (both Bassariscus species)
    • Also, Cacomixtle norteño, western cacomistle (Grinnel et al 1937; ITIS 2013; Wozencraft 2005)
    • From tlacomiztli, a Nathuatl Indian (Mexican tribe) word meaning "half mountain lion" (Zeveloff 2002)
  • Miner's cat (Grinnel et al 1937; Zeveloff 2002)
    • Often used by people to control rodent populations
  • Mico de noche or night monkey (Zeveloff 2002)
    • Regionally in Mexico
  • Mountain cat, cat squirrel, Pacific cat, band-tailed cat, coon cat, raccoon fox (Grinnel et al 1937 and others)

Scientific name

• Etmology
• Genus Bassariscus
• Bassariscus from the diminutive Greek bassaris meaning "fox" (Gotch 1995)
• Specific epithet astutus
• astutus from Latin meaning "cunning" (Gotch 1995)

Procyonid family (from Zeveloff 2002 unless otherwise noted)

• Includes raccoons, olingos, and coatis
• May share a common ancestor with red pandas
• Descended within the dog branch (Vulpavines) of carnivores
  • Vulpavines include dogs (canids), bears (ursids), weasels (mustelids) and their relatives
• Most closely related to weasels; with strong affinities to bears as well
• Eurasia likely center for evolution and diversification; c. 18-28 million years ago (Ma), during the end of the Oligocene (Zeveloff 2002; Helgen et al 2013)
• Fossils from France and Germany record high diversity of procyonids
• Relationships within the family are unclear (Decker and Wozencraft 1991; Zeveloff 2002)

North American colonization and diversification (from Zeveloff 2002)

• Date to c.16-19 Ma
• Migration across the Bearing Strait possible

Bassariscus fossils (form Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)

• Representatives of the genus from many locations dating to the Miocene
• Fossil record considerable
• Due to habit of using protective caves and rock crevices in arid locations
• Diet preserved in fecal copperlite found in one Grand Canyon cave
• Included 22 taxa: mammals, birds, lizards and snakes

Trapped by humans

• Valued for its tail
  • Taken by trappers from Mexico to the Oregon line (Grinnel et al 1937)
• Not a commonly trapped fur-bearing mammal (Taylor 1954)

Association with humans

• Rodent control
  • Kept as a pet by early miners in the Sierra Nevada of California (Taylor 1954; Grinnel et al 1937)

Symbolism

• Arizona state mammal

Taxonomy (ITIS 2013; Wozencraft 2005)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Suborder: Caniformia - dog-like carnivores

Family: Procyonidae - procyonids (olingos, ringtails, coatis, raccoons)

Genus: Bassariscus - ringtails

Species: Bassariscus astutus (Lichtenstein, 1830)- ringtail, cacomixtle norteño

**Subspecies: B. a. arizonensis (Goldman, 1932)
Subspecies: B. a. astutus (Lichtenstein, 1830)
Subspecies: B. a. bolei (Goldman, 1945)
Subspecies: B. a. consitus (Nelson and Goldman, 1932)
Subspecies: B. a. flavus (Rhoads, 1893)
Subspecies: B. a. insulicola (Nelson and Goldman, 1909)
Subspecies: B. a. macdougalli (Goodwin, 1956)
Subspecies: B. a. nevadensis (Miller, 1913)
Subspecies: B. a. octavus (Hall, 1926)
Subspecies: B. a. palmarius (Nelson and Goldman, 1909)
Subspecies: B. a. raptor (Baird, 1859)
Subspecies: B. a. saxicola (Merriam, 1897)
Subspecies: B. a. willetti (Stager, 1950)
Subspecies: B. a. yumanensis (Huey, 1937)

**Revisions may be needed following genetic studies (Gary Roemer, personal communication, 2019)

"Ring-Tailed Bassaris" - an early artistic work by W.E. Hitchock (1851). In: Audubon JJ, Bachman J, Audubon JW. 1851. The Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. 2. New York: V.G. Audubon.

Image credit: © Biodiversity Heritage Library, Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Decker and Wozencraft (1991)
Gotch (1995)
Grinnel et al (1937)
Helgen et al (2013)
ITIS (2013)
Poglayen-Neuwall (1990)
Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill (1988)
Taylor (1954)
Wilson and Cole (2000)
Wozencraft (2005)
Zeveloff (2002)