Bassariscus

{{Short description|Genus of carnivores}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Bassariscus.jpg

| taxon = Bassariscus

| authority = Coues, 1887

| display_parents = 2

| type_species = Bassaris astuta{{MSW3|heading = Genus Bassariscus|id=14001602}}

| type_species_authority = (Lichtenstein 1830)

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

Bassariscus astutus

{{extinct}}Bassariscus casei

{{extinct}}Bassariscus sonoitensis

Bassariscus sumichrasti

}}

Bassariscus is a genus in the family Procyonidae. There are two extant species in the genus: the ringtail or ring-tailed cat (B. astutus) and the cacomistle (B. sumichrasti). Genetic studies have indicated that the closest relatives of Bassariscus are raccoons,{{cite journal| title=Phylogeny of the Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carvnivora): Molecules, morphology and the Great American Interchange|author1=K.-P. Koepfli |author2=M. E. Gompper |author3=E. Eizirik |author4=C.-C. Ho |author5=L. Linden |author6=J. E. Maldonado |author7=R. K. Wayne | journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=43 | issue=3 | pages=1076–1095| year=2007 |doi= 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.10.003| pmid=17174109|citeseerx=10.1.1.495.2618 }}{{cite journal|last1=Eizirik|first1=E.|last2=Murphy|first2=W. J.|last3=Koepfli|first3=K.-P.|last4=Johnson|first4=W. E.|last5=Dragoo|first5=J. W.|last6=Wayne|first6=R. K.|last7=O’Brien|first7=S. J.|title=Pattern and timing of diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume= 56|issue=1|date= 2010-02-04|pages= 49–63|doi= 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.033|pmid=20138220|pmc=7034395}}{{cite journal |title=Taxonomic revision of the olingos (Bassaricyon), with description of a new species, the Olinguito |last1=Helgen |first1=K. M. |last2=Pinto |first2=M. |last3=Kays |first3=R. |last4=Helgen |first4=L. |last5=Tsuchiya |first5=M. |last6=Quinn |first6=A. |last7=Wilson |first7=D. |last8=Maldonado |first8=J.|journal= ZooKeys|issue= 324|date= 2013-08-15|pages= 1–83|doi= 10.3897/zookeys.324.5827 |pmid=24003317 |pmc=3760134|doi-access=free }} from which they diverged about 10 million years ago in the Tortonian Age of the Miocene. The two lineages of Bassariscus are thought to have separated after only another two million years, making it the extant procyonid genus with the earliest diversification. Later diversification in the genus in the Pliocene and Pleistocene saw the emergence of two extinct species, Bassariscus casei and Bassariscus sonoitensis, respectively. Due to the more digitigrade stance of their legs compared to the plantigrade stance of other members of Procyonidae, some taxonomies place the genus as a separate family, Bassaricidae..{{Cite web|title=Ringtailed Cat - Bassariscus astutus - DesertUSA|url=https://www.desertusa.com/animals/ringtail-cat.html|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.desertusa.com}} The name is a Greek word for fox ("bassaris") with a Latinized diminutive ending ("-iscus").{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Bassariscus |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=28 June 2018|title=Definition of BASSARISCUS }} The genus was named by Elliott Coues in 1887, having previously been described by Lichtenstein in 1830 under the name Bassaris. Coues proposed the word "bassarisk" as the English term for animals in this genus.{{cite journal

| title= Bassariscus, a new generic name in mammalogy | author= Coues, E. | journal= Science

| volume=9 | issue=225 | pages=516 | year=1887 |doi=10.1126/science.ns-9.225.516 | pmid=17748409| url= https://zenodo.org/record/1448359 }} Its habitat includes semi-arid areas in the southwestern United States,{{cite web |url=http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall02%20projects/Ringtail.htm |title=Ringtail Cat |access-date=2010-12-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810025737/http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall02%20projects/Ringtail.htm |archive-date=2010-08-10 }} the whole of Mexico, as well as moist tropical forests in Central America.