Two kinkajous (Potos flavus) were equipped with radio-transmitters and tracked during a 14- and a 7-day period in a primary forest of French Guiana. Both individuals were strictly nocturnal. They moved between food patches (flowering or fruiting trees) during c. 65% of the night, visited food trees during c. 20%, while the remaining time was devoted to rest. Rest time tended to peak in the middle of the night, whereas distances travelled peaked at the beginning and the end of the night. Minimum and maximum home range areas, estimated from minimum area and minimum convex polygon methods respectively, reached 15.7 and 17.6 ha in the female, 26.6 and 39.5 ha in the male. Mean daily activity area amounted to 5.5 ha in the female, 11.3 ha in the male. Distances travelled in a night averaged 1495 m for the female, 2540 m for the male. In contrast to the female, the male used the periphery more intensively than the centre of its home range. Both individuals occupied several roosts located in the canopy, but one far more frequently than the others. The male's roosts were all situated in the periphery of the home range.

Kinkajous were observed feeding on flowers or fruits of 15 plant species. Among the 10 species exploited for fruits, at least seven were dispersed. Dispersal distances averaged 200 ± 75 m (13 seed dispersal occurrences for 16 defecations), while seed transit time varied from 45 min to 3 h 35 min. P. flavus appears to be nocturnal, solitary, a generalist fruit and flower-eater and an important seed dispersal agent.

Among mammalian morphological specializations to arboreality, prehensile tails are the least studied. In carnivorans, two phylogenetically and ecologically distant representatives possess truly prehensile tails: the kinkajou Potos flavus, a neotropical procyonid and the binturong Arctictis binturong, a viverrid from south-east Asia. This paper examines osteological characters associated with tail prehensility by comparing carnivorans with and without prehensile tails. The prehensile-tailed taxa are characterized by: (a) a relatively longer proximal caudal region in length and number of vertebrae; (b) more robust distal caudal vertebrae, which possess expanded transverse processes. Comparable features have been also reported for prehensile-tailed primates, indicating evolutionary convergence. These features can be functionally associated with enhanced flexion–extension of the proximal part of the tail and increased strength and flexing capacity at the distal end of the tail. These tail movements are briefly described in free-ranging prehensile-tailed carnivorans.

The social organization of the kinkajou Potos flavus is described from 380 h of observations on habituated, free-ranging animals. Individuals were most often alone while feeding at night, yet they regularly interacted in stable social groups. Four social groups were observed, each consisting of a single adult female, two adult males, one sub-adult and one juvenile. At least one breeding female was solitary and did not reside within a group. Social groups were consolidated primarily at denning sites and large fruiting trees by group feeding, allogrooming and scent marking. However, kinkajous were most often observed solitarily, as social feeding only occurred in 19.6 of total feeding bouts (mainly among males) and individuals rarely travelled together. Although the composition of social groups was polyandrous, males also copulated with non-group females which suggests a promiscuous mating system. Female-biased dispersal and patterns of male association seem to be patrilineal and based on resource defence. The evolution of social organization in the kinkajou is discussed in relation to predation risk, resource availability, and convergence with primates of similar fission–fusion socioecology.