Western lowland olingo | |
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The western lowland olingo sitting on a branch | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Procyonidae |
Genus: | Bassaricyon |
Species: | B. medius |
Binomial name | |
Bassaricyon medius Thomas, 1909 |
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Synonyms | |
Bassariscyon gabbi orinomus Goldman, 1912 |
The western lowland olingo (Bassaricyon medius) is a species of olingo from Central and South America, where it is known from Panama and from Colombia and Ecuador west of the Andes.[1]
Description[edit]
The western lowland olingo is smaller than the northern olingo, but larger than the most montane member of the genus, the recently described olinguito ("little olingo").[1] While the Panamanian subspecies B. m. orinomus is about the same size as the eastern lowland olingo, the subspecies from west of the Andes, B. m. medius is smaller.[1] The pelage is slightly lighter than that of the eastern species.[1]
It has a head-body length of 31 to 41 centimetres (12 to 16 in), with a tail length of 35 to 52 centimetres (14 to 20 in).[1] It weighs .9 to 1.2 kilograms (2.0 to 2.6 lb).[1]
Taxonomy[edit]
There are two subspecies of the western lowland olingo: the nominate B. m. medius (Colombia and Ecuador) and B. m. orinomus (Panama and possibly Colombia).[1] The closest relative of the western lowland olingo is the other lowland olingo species, B. alleni, found east of the Andes, from which it diverged about 1.3 million years ago.[1]