Dwarf mongoose | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Herpestidae |
Subfamily: | Mungotinae |
Genus: | Helogale Gray, 1861 |
Type species | |
Herpestes parvulus Sundevall, 1847 | |
Species | |
Helogale ranges |
Helogale is a genus of the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It consists of two species and 12 subspecies: [1]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Subspecies | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|
Helogale hirtula | Ethiopian dwarf mongoose |
| eastern Africa, particularly Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. | |
Helogale parvula | Common dwarf mongoose |
| East to southern Central Africa, from Eritrea and Ethiopia to the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the Republic of South Africa. | |
The helogales are the smallest species of mongooses and both are endemic to Africa. The distribution of the Ethiopian dwarf mongoose is more tropical, and overlaps completely with that of the common dwarf mongoose, which is more widespread. Both are social diurnal species, and due to their small sizes they are vulnerable to predation. Both species live independently of open water.
The meerkat or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body length is around 24–35 cm (9.4–13.8 in), and the weight is typically between 0.62 and 0.97 kg. The coat is light grey to yellowish-brown with alternate, poorly-defined light and dark bands on the back. Meerkats have foreclaws adapted for digging and have the ability to thermoregulate to survive in their harsh, dry habitat. Three subspecies are recognised.
Anomalurus is the largest genus in the rodent family Anomaluridae, with four species. It is the only genus in the subfamily Anomalurinae.
The ring-tailed vontsira, locally still known as the ring-tailed mongoose is a euplerid in the subfamily Galidiinae, a carnivoran native to Madagascar. It is the only species in genus Galidia.
Bdeogale is a mongoose genus that was proposed by Wilhelm Peters in 1850 based on a mongoose specimen collected in Mozambique. Bdeogale species have compact paws with four symmetrical toes, round ears and a blunt muzzle with a broad round and bare rhinarium. The genus contains four species that are primarily terrestrial and omnivorous and forage in dense vegetation.
Jackson's mongoose is a mongoose species native to montane forests in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It appears to be rare and has been classified as Near Threatened since 2008.
The Ethiopian dwarf mongoose, also known as the desert dwarf mongoose or Somali dwarf mongoose, is a mongoose native to East Africa, particularly Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
The common dwarf mongoose is a mongoose species native to Angola, northern Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Zambia and East Africa. It is part of the genus Helogale, along with the Ethiopian dwarf mongoose.
The long-nosed mongoose is a mongoose native to Central African wetlands and rainforests. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 1996. Although formerly classified in Herpestes, more recent studies indicate that it belongs in the monotypic genus Xenogale.
Selous's mongoose is a mongoose species native to Southern Africa. It is the only member of the genus Paracynictis.
Meller's mongoose is small brown mongoose native to savannas and woodlands of southeastern Africa. It is the only member of the genus Rhynchogale. The Meller's mongoose lives alone and is active at night, feeding on termites or other small insects and animals. While somewhat rare, it is adaptable and faces no serious threats. It is a member of the mongoose family (Herpestidae), a group of fox-like animals native to Asia, southern Europe, and Africa.
Herpestes is a genus within the mongoose family Herpestidae. Several species in the family are known as slender mongooses. It is the type genus of the family, and comprises 5-6 living species, each with several subspecies. Fossil remains of three prehistoric species were excavated in France, and described in 1853.
Phacochoerus is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs. They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly considered conspecific under the scientific name Phacochoerus aethiopicus, but today this is limited to the desert warthog, while the best-known and most widespread species, the common warthog, is Phacochoerus africanus.
The Somalian slender mongoose is a small mammal found in Somalia and adjacent regions. It is a small to medium-sized carnivoran, averaging about 0.6 kg (1.3 lb) in weight.
Olwen Anne Elisabeth Rasa was a British ethologist, known for her long-duration study of the social behaviour of the dwarf mongoose in Kenya. She had studied aggression among coral reef fish under the pioneering ethologist Konrad Lorenz. Her fieldwork in Kenya's Taru Desert led to a book, Mongoose Watch: A Family Observed, and to a popular German television series, Expedition ins Tierreich. She later studied social behaviour in the yellow mongoose and the sub-social tenebrionid beetle Parastizopus armaticeps.
The squirrel galagos are a group of four species of strepsirrhine primates. They are classified in the genus Sciurocheirus of the family Galagidae.