Story

Photo Album of a Kinkajou

Marie-France Lavoie and Megan Cross
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Potos flavus

I'm a kinkajou and this is my photo album!  You might be wondering what a kinkajou is, so I put a recent picture of myself up on the first page.  Our scientific name is Potos flavus.  We are relatively small omnivores, which means we eat both plants and other animals.  Weighing 1.5 to 3.5 kilograms, we can grow to be from 43 to 56 cm, head and body, with a tail of the same size.  We have large brown eyes and small, round ears.  We also posess very long tongues, sharp claws, and pointed teeth, which are all used to ensure our balanced diet of fruits, leaves, flowers, small mammals, insects, birds, and honey.  You will get to see pictures of this later on in my album.

Kinkajous have golden, short, thick fur covering all parts of our bodies except our scent glands on our throats, jaws, and stomachs.  Since we have poor vision and cannot differentiate between colours, we rely on our heightened senses of touch and smell to communicate and understand.   Other methods of communication between ourselves include chittering and screaming; and when I'm really excited about something, I will make kissing noises.

While we look like primates, kinkajous are in fact a close relative of raccoons.  We are nocturnal animals who sleep in tree holes during the day and spend our nights hunting and eating.

We are classified as follows:

This is me at birth.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou at birth. © Megan Cross

I was born in a dark den because it takes baby kinkajous a while to learn how to live in the trees.  For the first month, I could not see as I was born with my eyes closed, but once I began to mature things happened very rapidly.

This is me hanging by my tail for the first time.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou hanging by its tail. © Megan Cross

By the age of two months, I was able to hang by my tail, meaning I started spending all my time in tree canopies.  I love it up here!  Us kinkajous like to live in all the tropical rainforests of Central and South America just like this one.

This is me when I left home.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou in a tree. © Marie-France Lavoie

After four months I was old enough to walk on my own and not be carried by my mother.  When I reached the age of one and a half and became old enough to mate I left my mother and started my own life.

This is a picture someone took of the time I got chased by a jaguar.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou being chased by a jaguar. © Marie-France Lavoie and Megan Cross

We are an endangered species, mostly due to a loss of habitat caused by the deforestation of forests.  Other reasons include capture to become pets, poaching by humans for meat and fur, and our natural predators such as foxes, jaguars, and ocelots.  I'm lucky to still be alive!

This is me having a midnight snack.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou sucking nectar from a flower. © Megan Cross

I love flower nectar!  We kinkajous play a very important role in the ecosystem of the tropical forests because we are pollinators who also help with seed dispersal. To get nectar I have to suck it out of the flower with my very long tongue.  During this process we get pollen all over our faces, which we end up spreading to the next flower we eat from.  I have also spread a few seeds around in my lifetime.  When I come in contact with some plants I get seeds on me and eventually end up spreading them.  I don't even realize when it happens.

This is me with one of my favourite meals.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou eating a mouse. © Marie-France Lavoie

We have a lot of neat body parts that help us within our environment, such as our sharp claws which we use to hunt smaller mammals (as in this picture).  We also have very long, prehensile tails, which we use as a fifth limb to hang from trees as you saw, keep our balance, and keep us warm at night. Our paws and long, skinny tongues make getting food easier.  Something really unique about us is that we have reversible feet!  We can turn them backwards to move swiftly and nimbly in either direction, and through the trees.

This is when I met my girlfriend, Igna. It was love at first sight!

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Kinkajou with its mate. © Marie-France Lavoie and Megan Crosscreature%2039

Male kinkajous reach sexual maturity at approximately 1 and a half years, while females take two years. While some of us live in families, we are often solitary animals and do not live in big groups.  A lot of my friends only want to come into contact with others when mating. I prefer to stay with Igna all the time because she is pregnant.  After 112 to 120 days we are going to have a baby, or kit.  Although twins are possible, kinkajous usually give birth to only one offspring at a time, not a litter.  I'm really excited!!  Igna and I have no idea how long we will live since we're endangered, but hopefully we will be able to watch our child grow up.  I once heard of a kinkajou who lived to be 23 years old!  I hope we make it that long!

References

Sullivan, Pat Harvey. Raccoons and Their Relatives. Chicago: World Book, 2002.

Learning Information

About This Page

Author: Marie-France Lavoie and Megan Cross
Classroom Project: Organism Research and Creative Story Telling
Ashbury College School
Ottawa, Ontario K1M 0T3 Canada

License: Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to , Ashbury College School

 Treehouses are authored by students, teachers, science enthusiasts, or professional scientists. Anyone can sign up as a treehouse contributor and share their knowledge and enthusiasm about organisms. Treehouse contributions are checked for general accuracy and quality by teachers and ToL editors, but they are not usually reviewed by expert scientists. If you spot an error, please get in touch with the author or the teacher. For more information about quality control of Tree of Life content, see Status of Tree of Life Pages.

close box

This page is a treehouse that is attached to a branch of the Tree of Life.

Treehouses are ToL pages designed for children and the young at heart.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Carnivora

Treehouse Content

articles & notes

Treehouses

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top