A video which appears to show a group of "baby dinosaurs" running across a beach has gone viral on social media with over 9.8 million views.

This took me a few seconds.. 😅 pic.twitter.com/dPpTAUeIZ8

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 4, 2022

The creatures look like young long-necked dinosaur species sauropods racing towards the sea.

The 14-second video shared by Buitengebieden has confused Twitter users but some experts were quick to identify the species as “Coatis, also known as coatimundis, members of the family Procyonidae. They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. The name "coatimundi" comes from the Tupian languages of Brazil, where it means "lone coati,” a user tweeted with a description of these creatures.

Adult coatis' range in size from 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 inches) in length from head to tail tip. They are about 30 cm  (12 in) tall at the shoulder which is the size of a large house cat and weigh between 2 and 8 kg.

Coatis, like raccoons and bears, have paws that resemble those of a bear or a raccoon, and walk plantigrade (on the soles of their feet just like humans).