Procyon lotor gloveralleni (Barbados Raccoon)

[peej]

Does any one happen to have an image of this animal and information about it's past.

[Melly]

The Raccoon (Procyon gloveralleni), was introduced into Barbados around 1,000 years ago by Lokono-Arawak Indians who kept them as pets. Sadly, this species is now feared extinct as the last one captured was in 1964; in the Hackleton's cliff area of the parish of St. John. The Barbados Museum is the only place where a stuffed specimen of this wonderful animal can still be seen.

The Barbados raccoon, like the other four island raccons, are debated as to whether they are actually separate species, legitimate subspecies of Procyon lotor, or just introduced deviations of P. lotor. The IUCN/SSC Mustelid, Viverrid and Procyonid Specialist Group keep them as separate species since there is much unknown about the species.

I don't know if there is any photograph of a living raccoon but there is a short desription in the book "Raccoons and their relatives" by Dr. David Stone.

Here is another interesting article about the raccoons on the West Indies

www.nmnh.si.edu/vert/mammals/pdf/dew2.pdf

[Shadow]

What for informations we have about this species?
How big was them?
What eated them?
What was the differences between lotor and gloveralleni?

[Melly]

This is all what i have found so far:

A number of authors dispute whether the island forms of raccoon and coati are species, subspecies, or recently reintroduced forms. MacPhee and Flemming (1999) consider P. gloveralleni to be extant as P. lotor. However, the IUCN/SSC Mustelid, Viverrid and Procyonid Specialist Group maintain that the taxonomic uncertainties around this taxon have not yet been fully resolved (Glatston, pers. comm.). The species is thought formerly to have been restricted to Barbados (Glatston 1994) and the last living specimen was seen in 1964 (Lazell 1972).

[Shadow]

Ok.thank you.

[sebbe67]

Barbados Raccoon (/? gloveralleni)
This species was formerly confined to Barbados.
However, the last living specimen was seen in 1964, and
this species is now believed to be extinct. This species is now believed to be extinct. A pair of common raccoons has been established in former Bahaman raccoon habitat.

[sebbe67]

The type material of P. gloveralleni is a juvenile male
skin and skull (MCZ 18951). Nelson & Goldman (1930)
wrote that ‘such scanty material affords an unsatisfactory
basis for a new species’; this did not, however, discourage
them from naming one. They correctly observed that ‘the
general form of the skull . . . shows alliance to other
West Indian and Florida raccoons, rather than to those
of the Middle [=Central] American mainland’ (Nelson &
Goldman, 1930: 454). Despite this, Goldman (1950) and
Hall (1981) suggested a possible relationship between
raccoons from Central America and Barbados.
One of the most distinctive features of the holotype
of gloveralleni as described by Nelson & Goldman
(1930: 454) is the absence of first premolars in every
quadrant of the jaw; they also noted that ‘the crown of
the upper carnassial [is] longer than broad, a condition
unusual [in raccoons]’. Two unsexed adult specimens
from Barbados, collected in c. 1867, were discovered
on display at USNM after gloveralleni was described
(Appendix). The skins of these specimens are badly
preserved, but both skulls are largely intact. None of the
unusual traits of the young holotype characterize these
specimens, each of which has anterior premolars present
in both jaws. Goldman’s (1950) measurements for the
upper fourth premolars of these specimens demonstrate
that length and breadth of this tooth are roughly equal
for both. While the occiput and zygomatic arches of
USNM 267380 are damaged, the skull of USNM 267381
is almost fully intact. The large postorbital processes of
this latter specimen approach the size of those seen in
some Central American representatives of P. lotor, such
as P. l. pumilus of Panama. However, its more moderate
dentition, inflated auditory bullae, posteriorly deflected
postorbital processes, and hooklike coronoid process of
the mandible suggest an affinity with the raccoons of
Georgia and Florida rather than Central America, in line
with Nelson & Goldman’s (1930) initial observations.
Lack of first premolars is an abnormality observed
elsewhere only in raccoons from coastal Georgia
(Goldman, 1950), and we suggest the Florida/Georgia
region as a probable point of origin for the raccoon
population formerly present on Barbados. Lazell (1981),
who examined one additional skull of gloveralleni (in a
museum on Barbados), arrived at a similar conclusion.

[david]

I don't thimk it is right to designate a new title to an introduced species. They should not have been there in the first place. If the frey squirrel of Britain changed slightly and was called a new species in thousands of to come, I would turn in my grave at the thought. And if it later came extinct and people attually were upset at the thought I think i'd shed a tear where ever i be. I say good ridence.

[Peter]

The American-European Bison hybrids in the Caucasian mountains are now also seen as a new subspecies. In 2000, these hybrids have been formally described as a new subspecies of European bison Bison bonanus montanus Rautian, Kalabushkin et Nemtsev, 2000 and included in the Red Data Book of Republic Adygea (part of the Russian Federation) and protected as a species in the reserve.

I agree that this kind of naming new subspecies is not favourable in my opinion. However, it is normal for species to colonise islands and to change! This animal did it not on their own, but was introduced into Barbados around 1,000 years ago by Lokono-Arawak Indians. So you could say it is an invasive alien species.

This is the same as with the Dingo. Where do you draw the line. Are all human introductions bad, or is it part of a new 'natural' way of colonising? Is there a difference if they are harmful to other species or not? And is it different when they are introduced more than 1000 years ago or just recently? Are more (extinct) animals than invasives, like for example the Falkland Islands Fox/Wolf? They were most likely also introduced by humans long ago. Questions that are good to think about.

[another specialist]

I agree were you begin and were do you end it - this will be a discussion that could go on and on with no conclusion

[sebbe67]

MCZ 18591, holotype of P. gloveralleni, skin and skull,
juvenile male, no specific locality, collected 1920. USNM
267380, skin and skull, unsexed adult, no specific
locality, no other information. USNM 267381, skin
and skull, unsexed adult, no specific locality, no other
information.

Taxonomic status and conservation relevance of the raccoons
(Procyon spp.) of the West Indies

[another specialist]

source for above

www.nmnh.si.edu/vert/mammals/pdf/dew2.pdf

[Bhagatí]

I not found picture of barbados raccoon. Ist maybe or possible species is (Procyon brachyurus) Wiegmann's raccoon.

Wrote in internet page
www.nmnh.si.edu/vert/mammals/pdf/dew2.pdf

This species (Procyon brachyurus) is similar with Procyon minor & Procyon maynardi & Procyon gloveralleni too.

But Procyon minor is live, Procyon maynardi not know, Procyon gloveralleni is extinct.

Procyon minor is existing picture very well, ist not this species.
Procyon maynardi very light.
But Procyon gloveralleni is very dark.

I sending this species Procyon brachyurus in here.

[Bhagatí]

Species (Procyon brachyurus) Wiegmann's raccoon by found on this internet page:

www.saxonia.com/galerie/002272.htm

[Melanie]

as far as i know there a dark specimens of P. lotor too. P. gloveralleni was first discovered and described in the 1920s

[Bhagatí]

from planet-mammiferes.org/espece3.php?indice=42

Barbados raccoon [ Raton de la Barbade ]
More dark pelage as P. lotor
LATIN NAME Procyon gloveralleni
AUTHOR Nelson and Goldman, 1930
SYNONYMS
NOTES
DISTRIBUTION Known only from the type locality: Island of Barbados, Lesser Antilles, West Indies
STATUS IUCN - Extinct
Describ subspecies = ? ; Valid in taxonomy = ?
Possible listed subspecies = 0


COMMON NAME
Bahama raccoon (E) [ Raton des Bahamas ]
LATIN NAME Procyon maynardi
AUTHOR Bangs, 1898
SYNONYMS
NOTES Koopman et al. (1957ref) examined the type series and believed it
to be conspecific with P. lotor
DISTRIBUTION Known only from the type locality: Nassau Island,Bahamas
STATUS IUCN : En danger
Describ subspecies = 0? ; Valid in taxonomy = 0?


COMMON NAME
Guadeloupe raccoon [ Raton de la Guadeloupe ]
LATIN NAME Procyon minor
AUTHOR Miller, 1911
SYNONYMS
NOTES
DISTRIBUTION Guadeloupe Isl (Lesser Antilles)
STATUS IUCN : En danger
Describ subspecies = 0? ; Valid in taxonomy = 0?
Possible listed subspecies = 0

[Bhagatí]

from dew2.pdf:

Table 1. Goldman’s (1950) classification of raccoons
P. lotor Mainland North and Central America
P. cancrivorus Mainland South and Central America
P. pygmaeus Cozumel Island off eastern Mexico
P. insularis Tres Marias Island (western Mexico)
P. maynardi New Providence Island (Bahamas)
P. minor Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles)
P. gloveralleni Barbados (Lesser Antilles)
of animal for a raccoon (see MacPhee & Fleagle,
1991), or perhaps his observations were actually made
on Barbados, an island he visited on the same voyage.
Raccoons were certainly present on Barbados as early
as the late 17th century (R. Hall, 1764). However,
Browne (1789) described the transport of pet raccoons
to Jamaica, and it is not impossible that similarly
transported raccoons had established a feral population
by the time of Sloane’s visit. Whatever the origin or
identity of Sloane’s ‘racoons’, there seem to be no
raccoons on Jamaica today.
In 1837, based on two specimens obtained from a
menagerie in Louisiana, Wiegmann (1837) described a
new species of raccoon he named Procyon brachyurus.
Wiegmann’s raccoons supposedly originated from
somewhere in the West Indies, and he hesitantly gave
the type locality of brachyurus as ‘Antillae?’ The current
whereabouts of these two specimens are unknown;
they may not have been preserved. Hershkovitz (1966)
discussed Wiegmann’s account, concluding that it could
not be applied with certainty to any of the raccoons
later described from theWest Indies. Procyon brachyurus
has never been used as a scientific name since (but see
E. R. Hall, 1981).
The first raccoon from the West Indies to be formally
described from a known locality was P. maynardi, from
New Providence Island in the Bahamas (Bangs, 1898).
Miller (1911) later named the raccoon population from
Guadeloupe as a new species, P. minor. Both of these
raccoons were said to differ from mainland P. lotor,
chiefly in their smaller body size. By the time of Miller’s
paper, description of insular raccoons as distinct species
had become a taxonomic trend; in addition to Bangs’
P. maynardi, Merriam (1898, 1901) had described
P. insularis from the Tres Marias off the western coast
of Mexico and P. pygmaeus from Isla Cozumel, east of the
Yucatan Peninsula. Nevertheless, Allen (1911) expressed
scepticism about the taxonomic validity of the New
Providence and Guadeloupe raccoons, writing:
It is doubtful what significance may be attached to the
recent discovery of a small race of raccoon in New
Providence (Bahamas) and in Guadeloupe (Windward
Islands). A third raccoon is known from Barbados, but its
identity is uncertain. Some have supposed that the silent
‘dogs’ (‘perros mudos’) mentioned by the early Spanish
explorers as kept by the natives of Haiti were really these
raccoons, but such a possibility seems extremely remote.
Feilden and others assume with some confidence that the
raccoon on Barbados might readily have drifted thither
from South America with some of the wreckage of trees
and flotsam that is constantly borne to the windward
shores of that island by the easterly currents of air and sea.
On the other hand, it may have readily been introduced
during the last one hundred years by the European invader.
Although raccoons from Barbados had never been
formally described, Allen (1911) and Feilden (1890)
knew of their existence from historical accounts (Hughes,
1750; R. Hall, 1764; Schomburgk, 1848; Chester, 1869).
Allen (1911) referred to the Barbados raccoon as
‘P. cancrivorus?’, assuming a potential South American
origin. However, when Nelson & Goldman (1930)
formally described Procyon gloveralleni from Barbados,
they recognized its close relationship to North American
P. lotor, not P. cancrivorus. The Barbados raccoon was
last sighted in 1964 (Lazell, 1972), and is now generally
regarded as extinct (Glatston, 1994).
The presence (or former presence) of three supposedly
distinct species of raccoon from widespread locations in
theWest Indies (Fig. 1), all closely related to P. lotor, presents
a biogeographic conundrum. The native Bahamian
fauna includes only one other non-volant mammal, the
hutia Geocapromys ingrahami. Guadeloupe and Barbados
have no native non-volant mammals except for their
supposedly endemic raccoons (Varona, 1974), although
Barbados may have supported an undescribed rice rat
Oryzomys in the recent past (Marsh, 1984). Excluding
Amerindian dogs from Holocene deposits (Arredondo &
Varona, 1974; MacPhee & Fleagle, 1991), mammalian
carnivores have no deep presence in the Caribbean, either
palaeontological or archaeological (Arredondo, 1976;
Olson, 1978). Furthermore, the bat faunas of these islands
are primarily derived from South America or the Greater
Antilles rather than North America, where one must
look for the insular raccoons’ affinities. This strange
biogeography is a problem that has been recognized
for some time. Goldman (1950: 31) wrote, ‘How the
particularWest Indian islands now inhabited were reached
by raccoons, and why these animals do not occur on many
other islands of the archipelago where conditions seem
similarly suitable are interesting subjects for speculation.’
In the Bahamas, raccoons are found today on Grand
Bahama Island and New Providence Island. Although
the New Providence population is considered a distinct
species, that of Grand Bahama, known to have been introduced
from Florida in 1932–33 (Sherman, 1954), is not.
However, after a visit to the Bahamas in 1784, the German
naturalist Johann Sch¨opf (Sch¨opf, in Morrison, 1911;
McKinley, 1959) discussed the introduction of raccoons
to New Providence as well, writing:
Of wild quadrupeds, there are but two species, properly
only one, indigenous to these islands. The Racoon is
found only on Providence Island, of which it is no more
originally a native than the rats and mice brought in by
ships. From one or more tame pairs of these droll beasts,
brought over by the curious from the main-land, and
afterwards escaped by chance in the woods, the race has
amazingly increased, to the great vexation and damage
of the inhabitants, who can scarcely protect their housefowls
from these stealthy thieves.

[another specialist]

baghira said:

Species (Procyon brachyurus) Wiegmann's raccoon by found on this internet page:

www.saxonia.com/galerie/002272.htm

[Bhagatí]

I'm now founded this link, with real illustration of barbados racoon. Is it on japanese page.:
www.geocities.jp/zetumetu2005/soro-9barubadosu-araiguma.htm

and pictures:






The last picture is detailed on tail of this species.
The japanese page is not english, but not wrote here for they'r pages.

[another specialist]

Not really real illustrations but cartoon but better than nothing.

You can translate it roughly by using one of the free translators on the net like Altavista.