---
title: "What the sources say about the Kinkajou | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "39 claims from the Kinkajou profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Kinkajou (*Potos flavus*)

> 39 claims from the Kinkajou profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Kinkajou](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/kinkajou/)

## Helgen, Kays & Schipper (2016). Potos flavus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T41679A45215631.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-1.rlts.t41679a45215631.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: Status read through GBIF's copy of the Red List by verify:quotes.) |

## Kinkajou. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/kinkajou

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| can hang by its tail | Kinkajous often hang by their tail while reaching for their next piece of fruit! |
| nectar with a 13 cm tongue | Their 5-inch-long (13 centimeters) tongue can reach inside flowers or beehives for tasty honey or nectar. |
| Mostly fruit and nectar, with rare eggs, hatchlings, insects and small vertebrates | most of their diet is fruit and nectar. On rare occasions they eat eggs, hatchlings, insects, and small vertebrates. |
| By rotating its hind ankles, it can also climb down a trunk headfirst. | By rotating their hind ankles, kinkajous can climb down a tree’s trunk headfirst. |
| Kinkajous can hang by the tip of their strong tail, then turn their body in such a way that they can climb back up their own tail. | Kinkajous can hang by the tip of their strong tail, then turn their body in such a way that they can climb back up their own tail! |
| Kinkajous and binturongs are the only two carnivores with a prehensile tail | Kinkajous and binturongs are the only two carnivores that have a prehensile tail. |
| Kinkajous look a bit like monkeys and are often called primates. They are not. | Looking a bit like a monkey, kinkajous are often mistakenly called primates. |
| They are carnivores in the family Procyonidae, along with raccoons, coatis, ringtails and olingos. | kinkajous are carnivores in the family Procyonidae, which includes raccoons, coatis, ringtails, and olingos. |
| A kinkajou weighs 1.4 to 4.5 kilograms | Weight: 3 to 10 pounds (1.4 to 4.5 kilograms) |
| is 42 to 76 centimeters long | Length: 16 to 30 inches (42 to 76 centimeters) |
| with a tail of 40 to 57 centimeters | Tail length: 15 to 22 inches (40 to 57 centimeters) |
| By day it sleeps in a hollow or a crook of a tree. | During the day, kinkajous find a hollow or crook in a tree to sleep or hide in |
| The name kinkajou comes from a word meaning "honey bear", and kinkajous raid beehives. | The common name kinkajou comes from a word that means "honey bear," as kinkajous raid beehives for the golden liquid. |
| A 13 cm tongue can reach inside flowers and hives | Their 5-inch-long (13 centimeters) tongue can reach inside flowers or beehives for tasty honey or nectar. |
| short, dense fur gives natural protection from bee stings | Their short, dense fur provides a natural protection from bee stings. |
| As a kinkajou drinks nectar, pollen sticks to its face and smears off at the next flower. | As they travel from flower to flower to drink nectar, the flower’s pollen sticks to their face and then smears off at the next flower. |
| Most of its diet is fruit and nectar. | most of their diet is fruit and nectar. |
| The San Diego Zoo gives an average lifespan of 20 years. | LIFE SPAN 20 years, on average |
| They screech and bark all around the forest, earning another nickname: la llorona, Spanish for "the crying woman". | They screech and bark all around the forest, earning them yet another nickname: la llorona , Spanish for the crying woman. |
| At night they set out to forage, and before sunrise they are back at a safe resting spot. | Kinkajous come out at night to stretch and scratch before beginning their quest for food. Before sunrise, they are back to a safe resting spot. |
| No. The San Diego Zoo says they are not tame, have a painful bite and can damage a home at night, when they are most active. | Because they are not tame, kinkajous do not make good pets, no matter how cute you might think they are! Kinkajous have a painful bite and can be destructive to a home in the middle of the night, when they are most active. |
| Usually one, and two are rare. | She gives birth to one baby (two are rare) in the hollow of a tree. |
| Gestation lasts 100 to 120 days | Gestation: 100 to 120 days |
| the baby's eyes open after one or two weeks | After one or two weeks, the baby's eyes open. |
| A kinkajou can hang by the tip of its tail, then turn its body and climb back up its own tail | Kinkajous can hang by the tip of their strong tail, then turn their body in such a way that they can climb back up their own tail! |
| tags: pollinator | Kinkajous are important pollinators. As they travel from flower to flower to drink nectar, the flower’s pollen sticks to their face and then smears off at the next flower. (note: task #1261) |

## Potos flavus (kinkajou). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Potos_flavus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A nocturnal canopy climber that twists 180 degrees between pelvis and head, can hang by its tail and reaches nectar with a 13 cm tongue. | allows for a rotation of 180º between the pelvis and head (note: Tagline: 180 degrees from ADW; hanging by the tail and the 13 cm tongue are claimed separately below; nocturnal: ADW 'strictly nocturnal and arboreal'.) |
| Tropical forests from southern Mexico to southern Brazil | Kinkajous are distributed in neotropical forest regions from southern Tamaulipas, Mexico to southern Brazil. (note: Neotropical means tropical Americas; SDZ also says 'tropical rainforests from southern Mexico through Brazil'.) |
| Rotates 180 degrees between its pelvis and head | allows for a rotation of 180º between the pelvis and head |
| A kinkajou can rotate its body 180 degrees between its pelvis (hips) and its head. | allows for a rotation of 180º between the pelvis and head |
| That extreme spinal flexibility helps it work along tree limbs to reach food at the tips of branches. | They utilize their extreme spinal flexibility to maneuver among the tree limbs and obtain food at terminal branches. |
| It lives in forests from southern Mexico to southern Brazil. | Kinkajous are distributed in neotropical forest regions from southern Tamaulipas, Mexico to southern Brazil. |
| It is strictly nocturnal (active at night) and arboreal (tree-living). | Kinkajous are strictly nocturnal and arboreal. |
| Several studies suggest figs can make up as much as half of it. | Several studies have suggested that figs are an important part of the kinkajou diet and can make up as much as half of the diet. |
| Harpy eagles and Isidor's eagles have been seen eating them, and jaguars occasionally do. Animal Diversity Web names humans as the main predator. | Aerial raptors like Isidor’s eagles ( Oroaetus isidori ) and harpy eagles ( Harpia harpyja ) have been observed consuming kinkajous. Jaguars ( Panthera onca ) are also known to occasionally eat kinkajous. However, the primary kinkajou predator is humans. |

## Lambert et al. (2014). Binturong (Arctictis binturong) and Kinkajou (Potos flavus) Digestive Strategy: Implications for Interpreting Frugivory in Carnivora and Primates. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105415

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In feeding trials on captive kinkajous, food took 2.5 hours on average to pass through the gut, which is quick for an animal that eats mostly plants. | We conducted feeding trials to determine mean digestive retention times (MRT) on captive animals ... both carnivoran species have rapid digestive passage for mammals that consume a predominantly plant-based diet: A. binturong MRT = 6.5 hrs (0.3); P. flavus MRT = 2.5 hrs (1.6). |

## AnAge entry for Potos flavus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Potos_flavus

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| AnAge, a database of animal lifespans, lists a maximum of 38.4 years in captivity. | Maximum longevity 38.4 years (captivity) |
| weightKg: 3 | Adult weight 3,000 g (note: task #1261) |