#0252 · 🦊 mammals

Ringtail

🇳🇱 Noord-Amerikaanse Katfret ·Bassariscus astutus

LCleast concern 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The ringtail ( Bassariscus astutus ) is a mammal of the raccoon family, native to arid regions of North America. It is also known as the ringtail cat , ring-tailed cat , miner's cat or bassarisk , and is also sometimes called a "civet cat" (after similar, though only distantly related, cat-like carnivores of Asia and Africa). The ringtail is sometimes called a cacomistle, though this term seems to be more often used to refer to Bassariscus sumichrasti .

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 12,450iNaturalist observations
weight 1 kgadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
12,450 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 1 kg.
Scientifically named by Hinrich Lichtenstein in 1830 (196 years ago).