We saw these animals along the road in Costa Rica, in groups of 10 to 20. They are not very shy and have long nails. When they come out of the forest they have their tails in the air. Any idea what it is? We were in the car and didn’t get out as we don’t know the species, but they didn’t seem aggressive to me although their nails suggest otherwise.
Answer
These are white-nosed bears or also called coatis. They are indeed known for not being very shy. They are closely related to the raccoons (they belong to the same family). More information can be found at the attached links.
Answered by
Prof. dr. dr. Dominique Adriaens
evolutionary morphology vertebrates ichthyology (fish biology) anatomy histology morphometry evolution
http://www.ugent.be
.