Smallest raccoon

The smallest species of raccoon is the Cozumel or pygmy raccoon Procyonpygmaeus, which exists only on the very small Mexican island of Cozumel, situated off the Yucatan Peninsula's eastern coast. It measures a mere 58–82 cm in total length (including its 23–26-cm-long tail) and weighs only 3–4 kg. Males are approximately 20% heavier than females. This species represents a typical example of island dwarfism, in which animals restricted to a small island often tend to become smaller with time.

The Cozumel raccoon is categorized as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, with only around 250–300 specimens existing, owing to the tiny size of its island domain, which measures a mere 478 km² in total area. Moreover, Cozumel is also home to a unique species of pygmy coati and a unique species of pygmy grey fox. Consequently, it is of extreme ecological and zoological significance, especially as such a small island does not normally harbour any terrestrial mammalian carnivores at all, let alone no fewer than three different ones, and all unique to it. Moreover, it is also home to a fourth, the kinkajou, but this one is thought to have been introduced by humans, rather than being native here.