THE KINKAJOU.[158]
Looking merely at the exterior of this animal, one would almost feel inclined to place it, as some of the earlier naturalists did, among the Lemurs: for, like them, it has a prehensile tail, one which can be coiled around branches to help its progress, precisely like that of a New World Monkey. It will be remembered that one member of the Civet family, the Binturong (p. 95), presents a similar peculiarity. But the Binturong’s tail is a comparatively imperfect organ, merely prehensile at the tip, while that of the Kinkajou can be readily coiled two or three times round a branch. We thus see that the same remarkable adaptation to arboreal life which is found in the whole group of New World Monkeys appears in one species from each of two distinct families of Carnivores, one of which is confined to the Old World, while the other exists only in the New World. And we shall see the same character crop up once more, when we come to the group of pouched animals (Marsupials), in the American Opossums. It must, of course, be clearly understood that the possession of a prehensile tail is no sign whatever of any relationship between the animals possessing it. It may be taken as certain that it was produced quite separately in all the four cases we have mentioned in relation to the habits of the animal.
SKULL OF KINKAJOU.
SKULL OF KINKAJOU.
The Kinkajou uses its paws in a wonderfully hand-like manner, and employs both fore and hind feet to bring food to its mouth. It will also hold a piece of bread in one hand, and break off pieces from it with the other, and this in spite of the fact that it has no opposable thumb, and that its fingers areshort and webbed nearly to the claws. For the rest, it is a pretty, innocent-looking little animal, with a body about a foot long, and a tail of some eighteen inches, covered with soft brown fur, and walking on the soles of its fore feet, while in the hind feet the heel is well raised from the ground. The skull is remarkable for its rounded form, and for the shortness of its facial portion: on a superficial examination it looks almost Cat-like. It feeds upon fruit, eggs, insects, birds, &c. It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, and in the great forests of Peru and North Brazil.