African palm civet

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African palm civet
A mounted specimen in Manchester Museum

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Superfamily: Nandinioidea
Family: Nandiniidae
Pocock, 1929
Genus: Nandinia
Gray, 1843
Species:
N. binotata
Binomial name
Nandinia binotata
(Gray, 1830)
Map of Africa showing highlighted range covering southern West Africa and much of central Africa
African palm civet range
Synonyms[2]

Viverra binotata Gray 1830

The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata), also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small

least concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]

Characteristics

An illustration depicting the African palm civet

The African palm civet is grey to dark brown with dark spots on the back. It has short legs, small ears, a lean body, and a long, ringed tail. It has two sets of scent glands on the lower abdomen and between the third and fourth toes on each foot, which secrete a strong-smelling substance used to mark territory and in mating. Adult females reach a body length of 37–61 cm (15–24 in) with a 34–70 cm (13–28 in) long tail and weigh 1.2–2.7 kg (2.6–6.0 lb). Adult males reach 39.8–62.5 cm (15.7–24.6 in) in body length with a 43–76.2 cm (16.9–30.0 in) long tail and weigh 1.3–3 kg (2.9–6.6 lb).[3]

The African palm civet's

cartilaginous at the end.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The African palm civet ranges throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa from

riverine forests, savanna woodlands, and logged forests up to an elevation of 2,500 m (8,200 ft).[1]

In the 1950s, one individual was wild-caught on Bioko Island.[5] However, it was not recorded on the island during subsequent surveys between 1986 and 2015.[6] In Guinea's National Park of Upper Niger, it was recorded during surveys conducted in 1996 to 1997.[7] In

grasses.[8]
In
camera-trapping survey in 2012.[9] In Batéké Plateau National Park, it was recorded only west of the Mpassa River during surveys carried out between June 2014 and May 2015.[10]
In Liberian Upper Guinean forests, it was sighted in Gbarpolu County and Bong County during surveys in 2013.[11]

In

Unguja Island in 2003.[12]

Behaviour and ecology

The African palm civet is a

fig trees (Ficus), papayas (Carica papaya), and bananas (Musa).[13]

Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha (0.13–0.59 sq mi) and females of 29–70 ha (0.11–0.27 sq mi). The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.[13]

Reproduction

In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January.[13] The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female's mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets' fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females.[citation needed] Its generation length is 7.8 years.[14]

Taxonomy and evolution

In 1830,

described an African palm civet using the name Viverra binotata based on a zoological specimen obtained from a museum in Leiden.[15]

In 1843, Gray proposed the

genus Nandinia and subordinated Viverra binotata to this genus.[16]

In 1929, Reginald Innes Pocock proposed the family Nandiniidae, with the genus Nandinia as sole member. He argued that it differs from the Aeluroidea by the structure and shape of its ear canal and mastoid part of the temporal bone.[4]

Results of

superfamily
as a whole.

Phylogenetic tree

The phylogenetic relationships of African palm civet is shown in the following cladogram:[17]

Feliformia

Felidae

Prionodontidae

Hyaenidae

Herpestidae

Eupleridae

Viverridae

Nandiniidae

Nandinia

Threats

The African palm civet is threatened by

habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat.[1]
In 2006, an estimated more than 4,300 African palm civets are hunted yearly in the Nigerian part and around 3,300 in the Cameroon part of the Cross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests.[18]

In Guinea, dead African palm civets were recorded in spring 1997 on bushmeat market in villages located in the vicinity of the National Park of Upper Niger.[19] Dried heads of African palm civets were found in 2007 at the Bohicon and Dantokpa Markets in southern Benin, suggesting that they are used as fetish in animal rituals.[20] The attitude of rural people in Ghana towards African palm civets is hostile; they consider them a menace to their food resources and safety of children.

oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.[11]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T41589A45204645.en
    . Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. OCLC 62265494
    .
  3. ^ Van Rompaey, H.; Ray, J.C. (2013). "Nandinia binotata Two-spotted Palm Civet (African Palm Civet, Tree Civet)". In Kingdon, J.; Hoffmann, M. (eds.). The Mammals of Africa. V. Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 140–144.
  4. ^ a b Pocock, R. I. (1929). "Carnivora". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. IV (14th ed.). pp. 896–900.
  5. ^ Eisentraut, M. (1973). Die Wirbeltierfauna von Fernando Po und Westkamerun. Bonn: Bonner Zoologische Monographien 3.
  6. ^ Hoffmann, M.; Cronin, D.T.; Hearn, G.; Butynski, T. M.; Do Linh San, E. (2015). "A review of evidence for the presence of Two-spotted Palm Civet Nandinia binotata and four other small carnivores on Bioko, Equatorial Guinea". Small Carnivore Conservation (52 & 53): 13–23.
  7. doi:10.1017/s003060530200011x
    .
  8. S2CID 16046066
    .
  9. doi:10.3759/tropics.23.151
    .
  10. doi:10.1111/aje.12497
    .
  11. ^ a b Bene, J. C. K.; Bitty, E. A.; Bohoussou, K. H.; Abedilartey, M.; Gamys, J.; Soribah, P. A. (2013). "Current conservation status of large mammals in Sime Darby Oil Palm Concession in Liberia". Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences. 2 (2): 93–102.
  12. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2004.00499.x
    .
  13. ^ a b c Charles-Dominique, P. (1978). "Écologie et vie sociale de Nandinia binotata (Carnivores, Viverridés): Comparaison avec les prosimiens sympatriques du Gabon". La Terre et la Vie (32): 477–528.
  14. ^ Pacifici, M.; Santini, L.; Di Marco, M.; Baisero, D.; Francucci, L.; Grottolo Marasini, G.; Visconti, P.; Rondinini, C. (2013). "Generation length for mammals". Nature Conservation (5): 87–94.
  15. ^ Gray, J. E. (1830). "Fam. Felidae. Gen. Viverra". Spicilegia zoologica; or, original figures and short systematic descriptions of new and unfigured animals. London: Treuttel, Würtz. p. 9.
  16. ^ Gray, J. E. (1843). "Viverrina. The Nandine". List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). pp. 47–56.
  17. ^
    PMID 20138220
    .
  18. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.11.031
    .
  19. doi:10.1017/s003060530200011x
    .
  20. ^ Djagoun, C. A. M. S.; Gaubert, P. (2009). "Small carnivorans from southern Benin: a preliminary assessment of diversity and hunting pressure". Small Carnivore Conservation (40): 1–10.
  21. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9493.2009.00369.x
    .
  22. ^ Bahaa-el-din, L.; Henschel, P.; Aba’a, R.; Abernethy, K.; Bohm, T.; Bout, N.; Coad, L.; Head, J.; Inoue, E.; Lahm, S.; Lee, M. E.; Maisels, F.; Rabanal, L.; Starkey, M.; Taylor, G.; Vanthomme, A.; Nakashima, Y.; Hunter, L. (2013). "Notes on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Gabon". Small Carnivore Conservation (48): 19–29.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Nandinia binotata.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nandinia binotata.
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