Urva | |
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Indian grey mongoose | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Herpestidae |
Subfamily: | Herpestinae |
Genus: | Urva Hodgson, 1837 |
Type species | |
Gulo urva Hodgson, 1836 | |
Species | |
See table and range map | |
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Native distribution of Urva species
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Urva is a genus comprising the Asian mongooses within the mongoose family Herpestidae. Species in the genus were formerly classified in the genus Herpestes , which is now thought to comprise exclusively African mongooses; phylogenetic evidence indicates that the Asian mongooses form a monophyletic group and had an Asian common ancestor. Urva forms a clade with Xenogale and Atilax , while Herpestes forms a clade with all other African mongoose species. [1] [2]
An Urva fossil specimen, an upper molar tooth, was excavated in the Ayeyarwady River valley in central Myanmar and is estimated to date to the late Pliocene. [3]
The scientific name Urva was coined by Brian Houghton Hodgson as the specific name of crab-eating mongoose in 1836, [4] and as the generic name in the following year. [5] Urva species have a wide distribution spanning from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indonesian island of Java. [6] The small Indian mongoose (U. auropunctata) has been introduced to several islands in the late 19th century, where it has become an invasive species. [7] [8]
Urva comprises the following species: [1]
Image | Name | Distribution and IUCN Red List status |
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![]() | Indian grey mongoose (U. edwardsii) (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) [9] | LC [10] ![]() |
| Javan mongoose (U. javanica) (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) [9] | LC [11] ![]() |
![]() | Stripe-necked mongoose (U. vitticolla) ( Bennett, 1835) [12] | LC [13] |
![]() | Small Indian mongoose (U. auropunctata) Hodgson, 1836 [4] | LC [14] ![]() |
![]() | Crab-eating mongoose (U. urva) Hodgson, 1836 [4] | LC [15] ![]() |
![]() | Ruddy mongoose (U. smithii) (Gray, 1837) [16] | LC [17] |
![]() | Short-tailed mongoose (U. brachyura) ( Gray, 1837) [16] | NT [18] ![]() |
![]() | Indian brown mongoose (U. fusca) ( Waterhouse, 1838) [19] | LC [20] |
![]() | Collared mongoose (U. semitorquata) (Gray, 1846) [21] | NT [22] ![]() |