It has been treated as a species, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies of the
white-nosed coati.[1][2][3][4] Cozumel Island coatis are slightly smaller than the white-nosed coatis of the adjacent mainland (N. n. yucatanica); but, when compared more widely to white-nosed coatis, the difference in size is not as clear.[5] The level of other differences also support its status as a subspecies rather than a separate species.[5]
It has been speculated that it is the result of an ancient
introduction to Cozumel by the
Mayans.[6] Although not rated by the
IUCN (where included in the widespread white-nosed coati),[4] it is believed that the Cozumel Island coati is highly threatened and close to
extinction.[7]
^Nowak, R., eds. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 1, p. 700. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press University Press.
ISBN0-8018-5789-9