West African oyan | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Viverridae |
Genus: | Poiana |
Species: | P. leightoni |
Binomial name | |
Poiana leightoni Pocock, 1908 | |
Distribution of Leighton's linsang | |
Synonyms | |
Poiana richardsoni leightoni (protonym) [2] Contents |
The West African oyan (Poiana leightoni), also known as the West African linsang, is a linsang species native to the Upper Guinean forests in West Africa. [1] It is one of the least known small carnivores in Africa. [3]
The West African oyan's body is slender and long, with an elongated head and a pointed muzzle. Its fur is yellowish to reddish brown with dark oval shaped spots on the neck, and small spots on the back and legs. Its throat, chest and belly are lighter in colour and without spots. Its tail has 10 to 12 dark rings. Its body is 30–38 cm (12–15 in) long, with a 35–40 cm (14–16 in) long tail. [3]
The West African oyan inhabits the canopy of tropical forests in West Africa. Two known records in the Ivory Coast date to the 1960s and 1970s. In Liberia, it was recorded in ten localities between the 1960s and late 1980s. Its presence in Sierra Leone and Guinea is uncertain. [3] [1]
The West African oyan is probably affected by habitat loss due to logging of tropical forests, and by hunting for bushmeat. [1]
The West African oyan was first described—in a paper read at the 26 November 1907 meeting of the Zoological Society of London and published the following May—by Reginald Innes Pocock, based on a zoological specimen collected in Liberia. [2] [4] Pocock considered it a subspecies of the Central African oyan, the trinomial in the original orthography being Poiana richardsoni leightoni, Poiana richardsoni liberiensis being printed in error. [2] [4] In 1974, Donovan Reginald Rosevear elevated "Leighton's linsang" from subspecies to independent species rank. [4]
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.
The African golden cat is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is a close relative of both the caracal and the serval. Previously, it was placed in the genus Profelis. Its body size ranges from 61 to 101 cm with a 16 to 46 cm long tail.
The honey badger, also known as the ratel, is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
The Asiatic linsang (Prionodon) is a genus comprising two species native to Southeast Asia: the banded linsang and the spotted linsang. Prionodon is considered a sister taxon of the Felidae.
The Asian palm civet, also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad range of habitats. It is widely distributed with large populations that in 2008 were thought unlikely to be declining. It is threatened by poaching for the illegal wildlife trade.
The African palm civet, also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small feliform mammal widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The Malabar large-spotted civet, also known as the Malabar civet, is a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the population is estimated to number fewer than 250 mature individuals. It has not been recorded during surveys carried out between 1990 and 2014. In the early 1990s, isolated populations still survived in less disturbed areas of South Malabar but were seriously threatened by habitat destruction and hunting outside protected areas.
The spotted linsang is a linsang, a tree-dwelling carnivorous mammal, native to much of Southeast Asia. It is widely, though usually sparsely, recorded, and listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
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.
A genet is a member of the genus Genetta, which consists of 17 species of small African carnivorans. The common genet is the only genet present in Europe and occurs in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and France.
The aquatic genet, also known as the fishing genet, is a genet that has only been recorded in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since it is only known from about 30 specimens in zoological collections, it had been listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List since 1996, as it is considered one of Africa's rarest carnivores. In 2015, it has been reassessed as Near Threatened.
The brown palm civet, also called the Jerdon's palm civet, is a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats of India.
Johnston's genet is a genet species native to the Upper Guinean forests. As it is threatened by deforestation and conversion of rainforest to agriculturally and industrially used land, it is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
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 Central African oyan, also called Central African linsang, is a linsang species native to Central Africa.
The Viverrinae represent the largest subfamily of the Viverridae comprising three genera, which are subdivided into six species native to Africa and Southeast Asia. This subfamily was denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864.
The African linsangs also known as oyans are two species classified in the mammalian subfamily Viverrinae, in the family Viverridae. There is one genus, Poiana.
The linsangs are four species of tree-dwelling carnivorous mammals. The name of these species originated in the Javanese language as linsang or wlinsang, and previously, was translated incorrectly in English dictionaries as "otter". The two African species belong to the family Viverridae and the two Asiatic species belong to the family Prionodontidae. Formerly, both linsang genera were placed in the subfamily Viverrinae, along with several other genera, but recent research suggests that their relationships may be somewhat different.
Rosevear's serotine is a species of vesper bat that lives in Guinea and Liberia. It was described as a new species in 2013. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
Genettinae is a subfamily of the feliform viverrids. It contains all of the genet species and the oyan species.