A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. The Herpestidae originated about 21.8 ± 3.6 million years ago in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main genetic lineages between 19.1 and 18.5 ± 3.5 million years ago.
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. Viverrids occur all over Africa, southern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia, across the Wallace Line. Their occurrence in Sulawesi and in some of the adjoining islands shows them to be ancient inhabitants of the Old World tropics.
The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, Chelydra and Macrochelys. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are Acherontemys, Chelydrops, Chelydropsis, Emarginachelys, Macrocephalochelys, Planiplastron, and Protochelydra.
William Elford Leach FRS was an English zoologist and marine biologist.
George Robert Gray FRS was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother of the zoologist John Edward Gray and the son of the botanist Samuel Frederick Gray.
George Robert Waterhouse was an English naturalist. He was a keeper at the department of geology and later curator of the Zoological Society of London's museum.
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf GüntherFRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther, was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile taxonomist with more than 340 reptile species described.
Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. was a British zoologist.
Francis Walker was an English entomologist. He was born in Southgate, London, on 31 July 1809 and died at Wanstead, England on 5 October 1874. He was one of the most prolific authors in entomology, and stirred controversy during his later life as his publications resulted in a huge number of junior synonyms. However, his assiduous work on the collections of the British Museum had great significance.
Robert Templeton was a naturalist, artist, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast, Ireland.
William Thompson was an Irish naturalist celebrated for his founding studies of the natural history of Ireland, especially in ornithology and marine biology. Thompson published numerous notes on the distribution, breeding, eggs, habitat, song, plumage, behaviour, nesting and food of birds. These formed the basis of his four-volume The Natural History of Ireland, and were much used by contemporary and later authors such as Francis Orpen Morris.
The Felinae are a subfamily of the family Felidae. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar.
The Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle, also known as the small-headed softshell turtle or the Indo-Gangetic softshell turtle, is an endangered species of softshell turtle native to waterways and rivers of the Indian subcontinent. It is very large, feeding on fish, frogs, worms, crustaceans and molluscs, and even the occasional swimming small rodent or other mammal. C. indica, like other softshell turtles, uses it flexible shell to dig itself deep into sandy lake and river bottoms; here, it patiently waits for potential prey to swim by. They will also ambush and chase their prey, depending on availability, the time of year, and size of the prey. In the past it was included as a subspecies of Chitra chitra, a species restricted to Southeast Asia using current taxonomy.
The small Indian civet is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in agricultural and secondary landscapes of many range states.
Alfred Duvaucel was a French naturalist and explorer. He was the stepson of Georges Cuvier.
The Central African oyan, also called Central African linsang, is a linsang species native to Central Africa.
Paradoxurinae is a subfamily of the feliform viverrids that was denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864. Pocock subordinated the genera Paradoxurus, Paguma and Arctictis to this subfamily.
Felis chaus affinis is a jungle cat subspecies. It was described by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1830 based on an illustration by Thomas Hardwicke.
Saiphos equalis, commonly known as the yellow-bellied three-toed skink or simply three-toed skink, is a species of burrowing skink found in eastern Australia. It is the only species classified under the genus Saiphos.
Microlophus grayii, commonly known as the Floreana lava lizard, is a species of lava lizard in the family Tropiduridae. The species is endemic to the Galapagos island of Floreana.
