South American Coati[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Family:	Procyonidae
Genus:	Nasua
Species:	N. nasua
Binomial name
Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766)
South American coati range. Note: Also found in west Ecuador, and west and north Colombia, see text

The South American coati, or ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua), is a species of coati from tropical and subtropical South America. In Brazilian Portuguese it is known as quati. Weight in this species is 2–7.2 kg (4.4–16 lb) and total length is 85–113 cm (33–44 in), half of that being its tail.^[3] Its color is highly variable and the rings on the tail may be quite weak, but it lacks the largely white muzzle ("nose") of its northern cousin, the white-nosed coati.^[3]

Distribution[link]

The South American coati is widespread in tropical and substropical South America. Most of its distribution is in the lowlands east of the Andes (locally, it occurs as high as 2,500 m or 8,200 ft), from Colombia and The Guianas south to Uruguay and northern Argentina (Chile is the only South American country where the species is not found).^[2][3]

The status of coatis west of the Andes has caused some confusion,^[4] but specimen records from west Ecuador, and north and west Colombia are South American coatis.^[5][6] The only documented records of white-nosed coatis in South America are from far northwestern Colombia (Gulf of Urabá region, near Colombian border with Panama).^[5][6] The smaller mountain coatis are mainly found at altitudes above the South American coati, but there is considerable overlap.^[7]

Behavior[link]

South American coatis are variable in color and can be quite orange-red.^[3]

South American coatis are diurnal animals, and they live both on the ground and in trees.^[8] They typically live in the forest.^[9] They are omnivorous and primarily eat fruit, invertebrates, other small animals and bird's eggs.^[8] Coatis search for fruit in trees high in the canopy, and use their snouts to poke through crevices to find animal prey on the ground.^[8] They also search for animal prey by turning over rocks on the ground or ripping open logs with their claws.^[8]

Females generally live in large groups, called bands, consisting of 15 to 30 animals.^[8][9] Males, on the other hand, are usually solitary.^[9] Solitary males were originally considered a separate species due to the different social habits and were called "coatimundis",^[9] a term still sometimes used today. Neither bands of females nor solitary males defend a unique territory, and territories therefore overlap.^[9]

Group members produce soft whining sounds, but alarm calls are different, consisting of loud woofs and clicks.^[8] When an alarm call is sounded, the coatis typically climb trees, and then drop down to the ground and disperse.^[8] Coatis typically sleep in the trees.^[8] Predators of the South American coati include foxes, jaguars, jaguarundis, domestic dogs, and people.^[10]

Reproduction[link]

All females in a group come into heat simultaneously when fruit is in season.^[9] Females mate with multiple males.^[9] Gestation period is 77 days.^[9] Females give birth to 2-4 young at a time, which are raised in a nest in the trees for 4–6 weeks.^[8][9] Females leave the group during this time.^[8][9] Females tend to remain with the group they were born in but males generally disperse from their mothers' group after 3 years.^[9]

Other[link]

South American coatis generally live for up to 7 years in the wild, but can live up to 14 years in captivity.^[9]

Subspecies[link]

The South American coati has 13 recognized subspecies:^[1]

• Nasua nasua nasua
• Nasua nasua aricana
• Nasua nasua boliviensis
• Nasua nasua candace
• Nasua nasua cinerascens
• Nasua nasua dorsalis
• Nasua nasua manium
• Nasua nasua molaris
• Nasua nasua montana
• Nasua nasua quichua
• Nasua nasua solitaria
• Nasua nasua spadicea
• Nasua nasua vittata.

References[link]

Wikispecies has information related to: Nasua nasua

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nasua nasua

South America

Area	17,840,000 km2 (6,890,000 sq mi)
Population	387,489,196 (2011, 5th)
Pop. density	21.4 per km2 (56.0 per sq mi)
Demonym	South American, American[1]
Countries	12 (list of countries)
Dependencies	3
Languages	List of languages
Time Zones	UTC-2 to UTC-5
Largest cities	São Paulo Buenos Aires Rio de Janeiro Lima Bogotá Santiago Belo Horizonte Caracas Porto Alegre Brasilia Guayaquil

South America (Spanish: América del Sur, Sudamérica, or Suramérica; Portuguese: América do Sul; Quechua and Aymara: Urin Awya Yala; Guarani: Ñembyamérika; Dutch: Zuid-Amerika; French: Amérique du Sud) is a continent located in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas.^[2][3] It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It includes twelve independent countries—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela—and French Guiana, which is an overseas region of France. The South American countries that border the Caribbean Sea—Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana—are also known as Caribbean South America.

South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi), which is slightly larger than Russia. Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000. South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America). The word America was coined in 1507 by cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann, after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the lands newly discovered by Europeans were not India, but a New World unknown to Europeans.

Geography[link]

A composite relief image of South America

South America occupies the southern portion of the American landmass. The continent is generally delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. Some sources^{[citation needed]} instead suggest the Panama Canhggfal. Geopolitically and geographically^[4] all of Panama – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is typically included in North America alone^[5][6][7] and among the countries of Central America.^[8][9] Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate. South America's triangular shape gives it the shortest coastline, for its size, of any of the continents.

Traditionally, South America also includes some nearby islands. Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Trinidad, Tobago, and the federal dependencies of Venezuela sit on the northerly South American continental shelf and are often considered part of the continent. Geo-politically, the island states and overseas territories of the Caribbean are generally grouped as a part or subregion of North America, since they are more distant on the Caribbean Plate, even though San Andreas^{[disambiguation needed ]} and Providencia are politically part of Colombia and Aves Island is controlled by Venezuela.^[7][10][11] Other islands that are included with South America are the Galápagos Islands that belong to Ecuador and Easter Island (in Oceania but belongs to Chile), Robinson Crusoe Island, Chiloé are also Chilean islands, while Tierra del Fuego is split between that country and Argentina. In the Atlantic, Brazil owns Fernando de Noronha, Trindade and Martim Vaz, and the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, while the Falkland Islands are governed by the United Kingdom, whose sovereignty over the islands is disputed by Argentina. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands may be associated with either South America or Antarctica.^{[citation needed]}

South America is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela; the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River; the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m [22,841 ft]); the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert;^[12][13][14] the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest; the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca; and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world's southernmost permanently inhabited community, Puerto Toro, Chile.

The Andes are the world's longest continental mountain range.

South America's major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies. The fluctuation in the price of commodities in the international markets has led historically to major highs and lows in the economies of South American states, often causing extreme political instability. This is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export.

South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth. South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a major proportion of the Earth's species.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the continent's land area and population. The remaining countries and territories are divided among three regions: The Andean States, the Guianas and the Southern Cone.

History[link]

Prehistory[link]

The prehistoric Cueva de las Manos, or Cave of the Hands, in Argentina

South America was joined with Africa from the late Paleozoic Era to the early Mesozoic Era, until the supercontinent Pangaea began to rift and break apart about 225 million years ago. Therefore, South America and Africa share similar fossils and rock layers.

South America is thought to have been first inhabited by humans when people were crossing the Bering Land Bridge (now the Bering Strait) at least 15,000 years ago from the territory that is present-day Russia. They migrated south through North America, and eventually reached South America through the Isthmus of Panama. Some archaeological finds do not fit this theory and have led to an alternative theory of pre-Siberian American aborigines.

The first evidence for the existence of the human race in South America dates back to about 9000 BC, when squashes, chillies and beans began to be cultivated for food in the highlands of the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence further suggests that manioc, which remains a staple food today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BC.^[15]

By 2000 BC, many agrarian communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast, helping establish fish as a primary source of food. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of an agrarian society.^[15]

South American cultures began domesticating llamas, vicuñas, guanacos, and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BC. Besides their use as sources of meat and wool, these animals were used for transportation of goods.^[15]

Pre-Columbian civilizations[link]

The Inca estate of Machu Picchu, Peru

The rise of plant growing and the subsequent appearance of permanent human settlements allowed for the multiple and overlapping beginnings of civilizations in South America.

The earliest known settlements, and culture in South America and America altogether, are the Valdivia on the Southwest coast of Ecuador.

One of the earliest known South American civilizations was at Norte Chico, on the central Peruvian coast. Though a pre-ceramic culture, the monumental architecture of Norte Chico is contemporaneous with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. Norte Chico governing class established a trade network and developed agriculture then followed by Chavín by 900 BC, according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín de Huantar in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned 900 BC to 300 BC.

In the central coast of Peru, around the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, Moche (100 BC – 700 AD, at the northern coast of Peru), Paracas and Nazca (400 BC – 800 AD, Peru) cultures flourished with centralized states with permanent militia improving agriculture through irrigation and new styles of ceramic art. At the Altiplano, Tiahuanaco or Tiwanaku (100 BC – 1200 AD, Bolivia) managed a large commercial network based on religion.

Around 7th century, both Tiahuanaco and Wari or Huari Empire (600 – 1200, Central and northern Peru) expanded its influence to all the Andean region, imposing the Huari urbanism and tiahuanaco religious iconography.

The Muisca were the main indigenous civilization in what is now modern Colombia. They established a confederation of many clans, or cacicazgos, that had a free trade network among themselves. They were goldsmiths and farmers.

Other important Pre-Columbian cultures include: the Cañaris (in south central Ecuador), Chimu Empire (1300–1470, Peruvian northern coast), Chachapoyas, and the Aymaran kingdoms (1000–1450, Bolivia and southern Peru).

Holding their capital at the great city of Cusco, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantin suyu, and "the land of the four regions," in Quechua, the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 25,000 kilometer road system. Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture.

The Mapuche in Central Chile resisted the European and Chilean settlers, waging the Arauco War for more than 300 years.

European colonization[link]

A representation of a Mestizo, in a "Pintura de Castas" in the Colonial era. "From Spaniard and Amerindian woman, begets Mestizo".

In 1494, Portugal and Spain, the two great maritime European powers of that time, on the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west, signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which they agreed, with the support of the Pope, that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries.

The Treaty established an imaginary line along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands, roughly 46° 37' W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (known to comprise most of the South American soil) would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. As accurate measurements of longitude were impossible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian.

Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies.

European infectious diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus)—to which the native populations had no immune resistance—and systems of forced labor, such as the haciendas and mining industry's mita, decimated the native population under Spanish control. After this, African slaves, who had developed immunities to these diseases, were quickly brought in to replace them.

The Spaniards were committed to convert their native subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end; however, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as native groups simply blended Catholicism with traditional idolatry and their polytheistic beliefs. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought their language to the degree they did with their religion, although the Roman Catholic Church's evangelization in Quechua, Aymara, and Guaraní actually contributed to the continuous use of these native languages albeit only in the oral form.

Eventually, the natives and the Spaniards interbred, forming a mestizo class. At the beginning, the mestizos of the Andean region were offspring of Amerindian mothers and Spanish fathers. After independence, most mestizos had native fathers and white or mestizo mothers.

Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers; this included many gold and silver sculptures and other artifacts found in South America, which were melted down before their transport to Spain or Portugal. Spaniards and Portuguese brought the western European architectural style to the continent, and helped to improve infrastructures like bridges, roads, and the sewer system of the cities they discovered or conquered. They also significantly increased economic and trade relations, not just between the old and new world but between the different South American regions and peoples. Finally, with the expansion of the Portuguese and Spanish languages, many cultures that were previously separated became united through that of Latin American.

Guyana was a Portuguese, Dutch, and eventually a British colony. The country was once partitioned into three parts, each being controlled by one of the colonial powers until the country was finally taken over fully by the British.

Independence[link]