Barbados raccoon

Taxobox
name = Barbados raccoon
status = EX
status_system = iucn2.3
extinct = 1964
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Procyonidae
genus = "Procyon"
species = "P. lotor"
subspecies = "P. l. gloveralleni"
binomial = "Procyon lotor gloveralleni"
binomial_authority = (Nelson and Goldman, 1930)

The Barbados raccoon ("Procyon lotor gloveralleni") is an extinct subspecies of the common raccoon ("Procyon lotor"), that was endemic on Barbados in the Lesser Antilles until 1964. [cite book | last=Zeveloff | first=Samuel I. | title=Raccoons: A Natural History | publisher=Smithsonian Books | location=Washington, D. C. | year=2002 | isbn=978-1588340337 | pages=42, 46 (This source was used for the whole article unless noted otherwise.)]

Classification

In 1950, Edward Alphonso Goldman identified the Barbados raccoon as distinct species; a classification that has been challenged over the past years by other scientists, who assume that it was a subspecies of the common raccoon. This assumption was supported by a study of its morphological and genetic analysis in 2003 by Kristofer M. Helgen and Don E. Wilson, which indicated that the Barbados raccoon was introduced by humans just a few centuries ago. [cite book | last=Helgen | first=Kristofer M. | coauthors=Wilson, Don E. | editor=Sánchez-Cordero, Víctor; Medellín, Rodrigo A. | title=Contribuciones mastozoológicas en homenaje a Bernardo Villa | url=http://books.google.de/books?id=PQphdAd9KKcC | accessdate=2008-08-09 | year=2005 | publisher=Instituto de Ecología of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México | location=Mexico City | isbn=978-9703226030 | pages=230 | chapter=A Systematic and Zoogeographic Overview of the Raccoons of Mexico and Central America] The study yielded the same result for the probably closely related subspecies Guadeloupe raccoon and Bahaman raccoon also living on Central American islands. [cite journal | last=Helgen | first=Kristofer M. | coauthors=Wilson, Don E. | year=2003 | month=Januar | title=Taxonomic status and conservation relevance of the raccoons ("Procyon" spp.) of the West Indies | journal=Journal of Zoology | volume=259 | issue=1 | pages=69-76 | publisher=The Zoological Society of London | location=Oxford | issn=0952-8369] Therefore, the Barbados raccoon is listed as subspecies of the common raccoon in the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005. [cite book | last=Wilson | first=Don E. | coauthors=Reeder, DeeAnn M. | title=Mammal Species of the World | url=http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/ | accessdate=2008-08-09 | edition=3rd Edition | date= | year=2005 |month= | publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press | location=Baltimore, Maryland | isbn=978-0801882210 | pages=627–628 | chapter="Procyon" | chapterurl=http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?s=y&id=14001658]

Description

Compared to an average sized common raccoon the Barbados raccoon is small, making it probably an example of insular dwarfism. The Barbados raccoon bears resemblance to the Guadeloupe raccoon, for example in the short and delicate skull and the dark gray coat with a slight ocher tint on the neck and shoulders. Similarly, only few guard hairs cover the ground hairs on the underparts. The mask is continuous across the face.

Extinction

In 1996, the Barbados raccoon was classified as extinct by the IUCN since its last sighting occurred in 1964, when one specimen was killed by a car on a road near Bathsheba. [IUCN2007 | assessors=World Conservation Monitoring Centre | year=1996 | id=18265 | title=Procyon gloveralleni | downloaded=2008-08-09] cite paper | title=A National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan for Barbados | pages=69-70
publisher=Ministry of Physical Development and Environment of Barbados | date=July 2002 | url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/bb/bb-nbsap-01-en.doc | format=DOC | accessdate=2008-09-08 ] The only mounted specimen is exhibited at the Barbados Museum in the Garrison Historic Area. According to a report of the IUCN in 1994, a pair of another species of raccoon has been introduced to Barbados. [cite book | last=Glatston | first=Angela R. | title=The Red Panda, Olingos, Coatis, Raccoons, and their Relatives | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=U8XwtnKBXUEC | accessdate=2008-08-09 | year=1994 | publisher=IUCN/SSC Mustelid, Viverrid & Procyonid Specialist Group | location=Cambridge | isbn=978-2831700465 | pages=33] Considering its small range, the Barbados raccoon was most likely never numerous except for the southern parts of the island. Habitat destruction due to tourism was probably one of the main causes for its extinction.

References