Viverridae Explained

Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized, feliform mammals. The viverrids comprise 33 species placed in 14 genera. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821.[1] Viverrids occur all over Africa, southern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia, across the Wallace Line.[2]

Almost all viverrids outside the subfamily Genettinae are commonly called civets, but some civets are not viverrids. Animals of the subfamily Genettinae are known as genets and oyans. The word viverridae comes from the Latin Latin: viverra 'ferret', but ferrets are in a different family, the Mustelidae.

Characteristics

Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractile claws. They have six incisors in each jaw and molars with two tubercular grinders behind in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. The tongue is rough with sharp prickles. A pouch or gland occurs beneath the anus, but there is no cecum.[1]

Viverrids are the most primitive of all the families of feliform Carnivora and clearly less specialized than the Felidae. In external characteristics, they are distinguished from the Felidae by the longer muzzle and tuft of facial vibrissae between the lower jaw bones, and by the shorter limbs and the five-toed hind foot with the first digit present. The skull differs by the position of the postpalatine foramina on the maxilla, almost always well in advance of the maxillopalatine suture, and usually about the level of the second premolar; and by the distinct external division of the auditory bulla into its two elements either by a definite groove or, when rarely this is obliterated, by the depression of the tympanic bone in front of the swollen entotympanic. The typical dental formula is:, but the number may be reduced, although never to the same extent as in the Felidae.[2]

Their flesh-shearing carnassial teeth are relatively undeveloped compared to those of other feliform carnivorans.[3] Most viverrid species have a penis bone (a baculum).[4]

Classification

Living species

In 1821, Gray defined this family as consisting of the genera Viverra, Genetta, Herpestes, and Suricata.[1] Reginald Innes Pocock later redefined the family as containing a great number of highly diversified genera, and being susceptible of division into several subfamilies, based mainly on the structure of the feet and of some highly specialized scent glands, derived from the skin, which are present in most of the species and are situated in the region of the external generative organs. He subordinated the subfamilies Hemigalinae, Paradoxurinae, Prionodontinae, and Viverrinae to the Viverridae.[2]

In 1833, Edward Turner Bennett described the Malagasy fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) and subordinated the Cryptoprocta to the Viverridae.[5] A molecular and morphological analysis based on DNA/DNA hybridization experiments suggests that Cryptoprocta does not belong within Viverridae, but is a member of the Eupleridae.[6]

The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata) resembles the civets of the Viverridae, but is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, the Nandiniidae. There is little dispute that the Poiana species are viverrids.

DNA analysis based on 29 carnivoran species, comprising 13 Viverrinae species and three species representing Paradoxurus, Paguma and Hemigalinae, confirmed Pocock's assumption that the African linsang Poiana represents the sister group of the genus Genetta. The placement of Prionodon as the sister group of the family Felidae is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the monogeneric family Prionodontidae.[7]

Family Viverridae
Subfamily Genus Species Image of type species
ViverrinaeViverra [8]
Viverricula [11] Small Indian civet (V. indica) [12]
Civettictis [13] African civet (C. civetta) [14]
Hemigalinae [15]
Hemigalus [16] Banded palm civet (H. derbyanus)
Cynogale [17] Otter civet (C. bennettii)
Diplogale [18] Hose's palm civet (D. hosei) [19]
Macrogalidia [20] Sulawesi palm civet (M. musschenbroekii) [21]
Chrotogale Owston's palm civet (C. owstoni)
Paradoxurus [22]
Arctictis [26] Binturong (A. binturong) [27]
Paguma [28] Masked palm civet (P. larvata) [29]
Arctogalidia [30] Small-toothed palm civet (A. trivirgata) [31]
GenettinaeGenetta [32]
Poiana

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of Viverridae are shown in the following cladogram:[47] [48]

Extinct species

Subfamily Genus Species
ViverrinaeViverra Leakey's civet (V. leakeyi)
Semigenetta
  • †S. cadeoti
  • †S. elegans
  • †S. grandis
  • †S. laugnacensis
  • †S. ripolli
  • †S. sansaniensis
ParadoxurinaeKichechia [49]
  • †K. zamanae
  • †K. savagei[50]
Tugenictis [51] [52] †T. ngororaensis
Kanuites [53] †K. lewisae
Siamictis Grohé et al., 2020[54] †S. carbonensis Grohé et al., 2020

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Gray . J. E. . 1821 . On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals . London Medical Repository . 15 . 1 . 296–310.
  2. Book: Pocock . R. I. . 1939 . The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma . Mammalia. – Volume 1 . London . Taylor and Francis . 330–332 . Family Viverridae . https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1/pocock1#page/n411/mode/2up.
  3. Book: Macdonald, D. . Wozencraft, W. C. . 1984 . The Encyclopedia of Mammals . Facts on File . New York . 134–135 . 0-87196-871-1 . registration .
  4. Book: Ewer, R. F. . The Carnivores . 1998 . Cornell University Press . 0-8014-8493-6.
  5. Bennett . E. T. . 1833 . Notice of a new genus of Viverridous Mammalia from Madagascar . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 1833 . 46.
  6. Veron . G. . Catzeflis . F. M. . 1993 . Phylogenetic relationships of the endemic Malagasy carnivore Cryptoprocta ferox (Aeluroideae): DNA/DNA hybridization experiments . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . 1 . 3 . 169–185 . 10.1007/bf01024706. 21555307 .
  7. Gaubert . P. . Veron . G. . 2003 . Exhaustive sample set among Viverridae reveals the sister-group of felids: the linsangs as a case of extreme morphological convergence within Feliformia . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 270 . 1532 . 2523–2530 . 10.1098/rspb.2003.2521 . 14667345 . 1691530.
  8. Book: Linnaeus, C. . 1758 . Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis 1 . Viverra . 43–45 . http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/dms/load/img/?PPN=PPN362053006&DMDID=DMDLOG_0013&LOGID=LOG_0013&PHYSID=PHYS_0047 . Tenth . Laurentius Salvius . Stockholm.
  9. Gray . J. E. . 1832 . On the family of Viverridae and its generic sub-divisions, with an enumeration of the species of several new ones . Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London . 2 . 63–68 .
  10. Blyth, E. . Report of Curator, Zoological Department, February 1862. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal . 1862 . 31 . 331–345 . 3 .
  11. Hodgson . B. H. . 1838 . Classified Catalogue of Nepalese Mammalia . Annals of Natural History . 1 . 2 . 152−154 .
  12. Book: Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire . E. . 1803 . La Civette de l'Inde . https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10482289?page=117 . 113 . Catalogue des Mammifères du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle . Paris . Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle.
  13. Pocock, R. I. . 1915 . On the Feet and Glands and other External Characters of the Viverrinae, with the description of a New Genus . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 85 . 131−149 . 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1915.00131.x .
  14. Book: Schreber, J. C. D. . 1778 . Die Civette Viverra civetta . https://archive.org/stream/SaYugthiereAbbiIIISchr#page/418/mode/2up . 418–420 . Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen . Erlangen . Wolfgang Walther.
  15. Gray, J. E. . 1864 . A revision of the genera and species of viverrine animals (Viverridae), founded on the collection in the British Museum . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the Year 1864 . 502–579 .
  16. Jourdan, C. . 1837 . Mémoire sur deux mammifères nouveaux de l'Inde, considérés comme types des deux genres voisins des Paradoxures, genres Hémigale et Ambliodon . Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences . 442–447 .
  17. Gray, J.E. . 1836 . Characters of some new species of Mammalia in the Society's collection . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . Part IV . October . 87–88 .
  18. Thomas, O. . 1912 . Two new Genera and a Species of Viverrine Carnivora . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . Part II . 498–503 .
  19. Thomas, O. . 1892 . On some Mammals form Mount Dulit, North Borneo . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . Part I . 221–226 .
  20. Schwarz, E. . 1910 . Notes on some Palm-Civets . The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology . 8 . 5 . 29 . 422–424 .
  21. Schlegel, H. . 1879 . Paradoxurus musschenbroekii . Notes from the Royal Zoological Museum of the Netherlands at Leyden . 1 . Note XIV . 43 .
  22. Cuvier, F. . 1822 . Du genre Paradoxure et de deux espèces nouvelles qui s'y rapportent . Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle Paris . 9 . 41–48 .
  23. Book: Pallas, P. S. . 1778 . Das Zwitterstinkthier . 426 . Schreber, J. C. D. . https://archive.org/stream/SaYugthiereAbbiIIISchr#page/426/mode/2up . Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen . Erlangen . Wolfgang Walther.
  24. Book: Pallas, P. S. . 1778 . Der Boshond . 451 . Schreber, J. C. D. . https://archive.org/stream/SaYugthiereAbbiIIISchr#page/450/mode/2up . Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen . Erlangen . Wolfgang Walther.
  25. Blanford, W. T. . 1885. A Monograph of the Genus Paradoxurus, F. Cuvier . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 53 . 4. 780–808 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1885.tb02921.x.
  26. Book: Temminck, C. J. . 1824 . Monographies de mammalogie . Dufour & d'Ocagne . Paris . XVII Genre Arctictis . xxi . https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5800774n/f26.item.
  27. Raffles, T. S. . 1822 . XVII. Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection, made on account of the Honourable East India Company, in the Island of Sumatra and its Vicinity, under the Direction of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Fort Marlborough', with additional Notices illustrative of the Natural History of those Countries . The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . XIII . 239–274 .
  28. Book: Gray . J. E. . 1831 . Paguma . Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London . London . Zoological Society of London . 1 . 95 . https://archive.org/details/lietuvostsrmoksl30liet/page/n108.
  29. Book: Smith, C.H. . 1827 . The animal kingdom : arranged in conformity with its organization . 2. Mammalia . Griffith, E. . G.B. Whittaker . London . Gulo larvatus, the Masked Glutton . 281 . https://archive.org/details/classmammalia21827cuvi/page/n319/mode/2up.
  30. Merriam, C. H. . 1897 . The generic names Ictis, Arctogale, and Arctogalidia . Science . 5 . 112 . 302 . 10.1126/science.5.112.302 . 17741859 . 5336742 .
  31. Gray, J.E. . 1832 . On the Family of Viverridae and its generic subdivisions; with an enumeration of the Species of Paradoxurus, and Characters of several new ones . Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London . Part 2 . 63–68 .
  32. Book: Cuvier . F. . 1816 . Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée . I . Cuvier, G. . Paris . Deterville .
  33. Book: Linnaeus, C. . 1758 . Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis 1 . Viverra genetta . 45 . http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/dms/load/img/?PPN=PPN362053006&DMDID=DMDLOG_0013&LOGID=LOG_0013&PHYSID=PHYS_0049 . Tenth . Laurentius Salvius . Stockholm.
  34. Book: Schreber, J. C. D. . 1778 . http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/dms/load/img/?PPN=PPN574903313&DMDID=DMDLOG_0006&LOGID=LOG_0010&PHYSID=PHYS_0152 . Die Bisamkaze Viverra tigrina . 425–426 . Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen . Dritter Theil . Walther . Erlangen.
  35. Thunberg, C. P. . 1811 . Beskrifning och teckning pa Viverra felina . Kungliga Swenska Wetenskaps Academiens Handlingar . 165–168 .
  36. Book: Gray, J. E. . 1828 . Spicilegia zoologica : original figures and short systematic descriptions of new and unfigured animals . London . Treuttel, Wurtz & Co. . 9 . Viverra maculata . https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10231416?page=13.
  37. Book: Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I. . 1832 . Études Zoologiques : Ouvrage comprenant l'histoire et la description d'un grand nombre d'animaux récemment découverts et des observations nouvelles sur plusieurs genres déjà connus . Paris . Lequien Fils . 73 . Descriptions d'une nouvelle espèce du genre Genette. Genetta. Cuv. . https://books.google.com/books?id=roc-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA73.
  38. Book: Rüppell, E. . 1835 . Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig . Frankfurt . Siegmund Schmerber . Viverra abyssinica. Rüppell . https://archive.org/stream/neuewirbelthiere00rupp#page/n43/mode/2up.
  39. Waterhouse, G. R. . 1838 . On some New Species of Mammalia from Fernando Po . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 57–61 .
  40. Thomas, O. . 1901 . On the more notable Mammals obtained by Sir Harry Johnston in the Uganda Protectorate . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . II . 85–90 . 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1901.tb08165.x .
  41. Book: Matschie, P. . 1902 . Verhandlungen des V. Internationalen Zoologen-Congresses zu Berlin, 12.–16. August 1901 . Jena . Gustav Fischer . 1128–1145 . Über die individuellen und geographischen Abänderungen der Ginsterkatzen . https://archive.org/stream/verhandlungende00inte/verhandlungende00inte#page/1142/mode/2up.
  42. Thomas, O. . Schwann, H. . amp . 1906 . The Rudd Exploration of South Africa.—IV. List of Mammals obtained by Mr. Grant at Knysna . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 76 . 1–2 . 159–168 . 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1906.tb08427.x.
  43. Allen, J. A. . 1919 . Preliminary notes on African carnivora . Journal of Mammalogy . 1 . 1 . 23–31 . 10.2307/1373716. 1373716 .
  44. Gaubert, P. . 2003 . Description of a new species of genet (Carnivora; Viverridae; genus Genetta) and taxonomic revision of forest forms related to the Large-spotted Genet complex . Mammalia . 67 . 1 . 85–108 . 10.1515/mamm.2003.67.1.85. 84351854 .
  45. Thomson, T. R. H. . 1842 . Description of a new species of Genetta, and of two species of Birds from Western Africa . The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology . 10 . 64 . 203–205 . 10.1080/03745484209445224.
  46. Pocock, R. I. . 1907 . Report upon a Small Collection of Mammalia brought from Liberia by Mr. Leonard Leighton . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 77 . November . 1037–1046 . 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1907.tb06966.x .
  47. Gaubert . P. . Cordeiro-Estrela . P. . amp . Phylogenetic systematics and tempo of evolution of the Viverrinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Viverridae) within feliformians: implications for faunal exchanges between Asia and Africa . . 2006 . 41 . 2 . 266–278 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.034 . 16837215 . 2006MolPE..41..266G . 2020-08-01 . 2022-08-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220815132137/http://www.cetpo.upol.cz/files/lib/26/711/gaubert2006viveridae.pdf . dead .
  48. Nyakatura . K. . O. R. P. . Bininda-Emonds . amp . Updating the evolutionary history of Carnivora (Mammalia): a new species-level supertree complete with divergence time estimates. BMC Biology . 2012 . 10 . 12 . 10.1186/1741-7007-10-12 . 22369503 . 3307490 . free .
  49. Fossil mammals of Africa: 19, The Miocene Carnivora of East Africa . Savage, R. J. G. . Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) . 1965 . 10 . 8 . 239–316 .
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  51. Morales, J.. Pickford, M.. amp. 2005. Carnivores from the Middle Miocene Ngorora Formation (13-12 Ma), Kenya. Estudios Geológicos. 61. 3–6. 271–284. 10.3989/egeol.05613-668. free.
  52. Werdelin, L.. 2019. Middle Miocene Carnivora and Hyaenodonta from Fort Ternan, western Kenya. Geodiversitas. 41. 6. 267. 10.5252/geodiversitas2019v41a6. 146620949. free.
  53. Dehghani, R.. Werdelin, L.. amp. 2008. A new small carnivoran from the Middle Miocene of Fort Ternan, Kenya. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 248. 2. 233–244. 10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0248-0233.
  54. Grohé. C. . Bonis . L. D. . Chaimanee . Y. . Chavasseau . O. . Rugbumrung . M. . Yamee . C. . Suraprasit . K. . Gibert . C. . Surault . J. . Blondel . C. . Jaeger . J.-J. . 2020 . The Late Middle Miocene Mae Moh Basin of Northern Thailand: The Richest Neogene Assemblage of Carnivora from Southeast Asia and a Paleobiogeographic Analysis of Miocene Asian Carnivorans . American Museum Novitates . 3952. 1–57 . 10.1206/3952.1. 219296152 .

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