Civettictis

Civettictis Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Recent
African civet (Civettictis civetta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Viverridae
Subfamily:	Viverrinae
Genus:	Civettictis Pocock, 1915
Species
Civettictis civetta † Civettictis braini

Civettictis is a genus of viverrid that contains the extant African civet (Civettictis civetta) and a recently described extinct relative from the Plio-Pleistocene of South Africa known as Civettictis braini . ^[1]

Evolution

A 2006 phylogenetic study showed that the African civet is closely related to the genus Viverra . It was estimated that the Civettictis-Viverra clade diverged from Viverricula around 16.2 Mya; the African civet split from Viverra 12.3 Mya. The authors suggested that the subfamily Viverrinae should be bifurcated into Genettinae ( Poiana and Genetta ) and Viverrinae (Civettictis, Viverra and Viverricula ). The following cladogram is based on this study. ^[2]

	Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) African civet (Civettictis civetta) Viverra Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha) Large-spotted civet (V. megaspila) Malayan civet (V. tangalunga) Genetta Poiana

References

1. Fourvel, Jean-Baptiste (2018). "Civettictis braini nov. sp. (Mammalia: Carnivora), a new viverrid from the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa)". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 17 (6): 366–377. Bibcode:2018CRPal..17..366F. doi: 10.1016/j.crpv.2017.11.005 .
2. Gaubert, P.; Cordeiro-Estrela, P. (2006). "Phylogenetic systematics and tempo of evolution of the Viverrinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Viverridae) within feliformians: implications for faunal exchanges between Asia and Africa" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 41 (2): 266–78. Bibcode:2006MolPE..41..266G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.034. PMID   16837215. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2016-04-19.