In the first decades after its discovery by the members of the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who was the first person to leave a written record about the species, taxonomists thought the raccoon was related to many different species, including dogs, cats, badgers and particularly bears.
U prvim desetljećima nakon što su ga otkrili pripadnici ekspedicije Kristofora Kolumba - prve osobe koja je ostavila pisani trag o ovoj vrsti - taksonomi su smatrali da je rakun u srodstvu s mnogim različitim vrstama, uključujući i pse, mačke, jazavce i posebno medvjede.