Bassariscus

Taxobox
name = Bassariscus


image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Procyonidae
subfamilia = Procyoninae
genus = "Bassariscus"
genus_authority = Coues, 1887
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Bassariscus astutus"
"Bassariscus sumichrasti"

"Bassariscus" is a genus of the "Procyonidae" family and "Procyoninae" subfamily. There are two species in the genus: the ringtail or ring-tailed cat ("B. astutus") and the cacomistle ("B. sumichrasti"). Genetic studies have shown that closest relatives of "Bassariscus" are the racoons. [cite journal
title=Phylogeny of the Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carvnivora): Molecules, morphology and the Great American Interchange
author= K.-P. Koepfli, M. E. Gompper, E. Eizirik, C.-C. Ho, L. Linden, J. E. Maldonado, R. K. Wayne
journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
volume=43
pages=1076–1095
year=2007
doi= 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.10.003 ]

The genus was first described by Elliott Coues in 1887.

References