Long-term adult male sociality in ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua)

[Extract] Coatis (Genus: Nasua) are widely distributed in Central and South America. Although some authors have studied dietary patterns and ranging behavior of ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua, Linnaeus 1766) not much was known about their social system in the wild (Beisiegel 2001, Alves-Costa et al. 2004, Beisiegel and Mantovani 2006, see also: Costa et al. 2009, Hirsch 2007a, 2009, 2010, 2011a,b). Previous authors assumed that ring-tailed coatis have similar or identical social systems to white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica Linnaeus 1766), which have a unique social system among carnivores in that adult males are mostly solitary outside of the mating season and females live in groups with their offspring (Gittleman 1989, Gompper 1995, Beisiegel 2001). This paper describes patterns of long-term male sociality seen during a two and a half year study of ring-tailed coatis in Iguazu, Argentina