MammalBase - Accepted taxon: Bassariscus astutus

Accepted taxon: Bassariscus astutus
Taxon:	Bassariscus astutus
Rank:	Species
Higher Classification:	CARNIVORA \| CANIFORMIA \| Procyonidae \| Bassariscus
Reference:	Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005.

Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Bassariscus astutus diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 5, ASH (Ash contents) 7, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 18, CP (Crude Protein) 49, EE (Ether Extract) 21. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 1. List of Diet Items for Bassariscus astutus.
TSN Complete name	Part	Ratio ^a.	Reference(s)
Insecta	WHOLE	26.19	Damuth, J…
Aves	WHOLE	18.97	Damuth, J…
Rodentia	WHOLE	17.22	Damuth, J…
Magnoliopsida	FRUIT	11.59	Damuth, J…
Mammalia	WHOLE	9.52	Reid,F., …
Aves	EGGS	4.76	Grzimek,B…
Reptilia	WHOLE	3.57	Grzimek,B…
Magnoliopsida	SHOOT	3.41	Damuth, J…
Squamata	WHOLE	3.17	Reid,F., …
Arthropoda	WHOLE	1.59	Reid,F., …

^a. Standardized values. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Bassariscus astutus.
Trait	Selected Value	All Value(s)	Reference(s)
Locomotion: Eisenberg 1981	Scansonal	Scansonal	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009	Frugivore	Animalivore, Frugivore	– A. R. Friscia, B. Van Valkenburgh, A. R. Biknevicius, 2007, 'An ecomorphological analysis of extant small carnivorans', Journal of Zoology, vol. 272, no. 1, pp. 82-100, John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554, Juhn, M., Balisi, M., Doughty, E., Friscia, A., Howenstine, A., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S., Van Valkenburgh, B. 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology. None(None), pp.1-10. Available at: 10.1017/pab.2024.27.
Temporal habits	nocturnal	nocturnal	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981	Frugivore-omnivore	Carnivore, Frugivore-omnivore	– Juhn, M., Balisi, M., Doughty, E., Friscia, A., Howenstine, A., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S., Van Valkenburgh, B. 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology. None(None), pp.1-10. Available at: 10.1017/pab.2024.27.

Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Bassariscus astutus.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	700	-	1,638	-	Freudenth…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	1,010	-	-	Juhn, M.,…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	8	8	-	-	-	1,071.7	-	-	Engelman,…
Head-Body Length (HBL)	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	339.5	-	-	Engelman,…
Occipital condyle width (OCW)	nan	mm	8	8	-	-	-	18.19	-	-	Engelman,…

Table 4. List of other Measurements ^b. for Bassariscus astutus.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
brainmass	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	16	-	-	Engelman,…
skull_length	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	75	-	-	Engelman,…
femur circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	15	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	15	-	-	Nelson, A…
BMR,mlO2/h	nan	mlO2/h	-	-	-	-	-	371	-	-	Genoud, M…
relative blade length (RBL)	nan	unitless	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	Juhn, M.S…

^b. other Measurements. Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..

Table 5. List of Data Sources for Bassariscus astutus.
Taxon	Reference	Match	Status
Bassariscus astutus	Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Gittleman,J. L., 1985, Carnivore body size: ecological and taxonomic correlates, Oecologia	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Friscia,AR, 2006, An ecomorphological analysis of extant small carnivorans, Journal of zoology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Reid,F., 2006, Peterson field guide to mammals of North America,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Law, C.J., Blackwell, E.A., Curtis, A.A., Dickinson, E., Hartstone‐Rose, A. and Santana, S.E., 2022. Decoupled evolution of the cranium and mandible in carnivoran mammals. Evolution.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Engelman, R.K., 2022. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC biology, 20(1), p.37.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	DeMers, A.C., 2023. Functional Significance of the Mandible, Tooth Roots, and Tooth Crowns, and their Implications for Fossil Dietary Inference (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Genoud, M., Isler, K. and Martin, R.D., 2018. Comparative analyses of basal rate of metabolism in mammals: data selection does matter. Biological Reviews, 93(1), pp.404-438.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Freudenthal, M. and Martín-Suárez, E., 2013. Estimating body mass of fossil rodents. Scripta Geologica, 145, pp.1-513.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bassariscus astutus	Juhn, M.S., Balisi, M.A., Doughty, E.M., Friscia, A.R., Howenstine, A.O., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S. and Van Valkenburgh, B., 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology, pp.1-10.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted

Citation for this page: [The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864 Bassariscus astutus , Accessed 5th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/15239]