Malabar large-spotted civet
Malabar large-spotted civet | |
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Stuffed specimen at Government Museum, Chennai | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Viverridae |
Genus: | Viverra |
Species: | V. civettina[1]
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Binomial name | |
Viverra civettina[1] Blyth, 1862
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Malabar large-spotted civet range |
The Malabar large-spotted civet (Viverra civettina), also known as the Malabar civet, is a
It is known as Kannan chandu and Male meru in Kerala വെരുക് (veruk) in Malayalam, and in Karnataka as Mangala kutri, Bal kutri and Dodda punugina.[4]
Taxonomy
Viverra civettina was the
There is some controversy as to whether the Malabar civet is even native to the Western Ghats or whether it is a valid species. Background information for the specimens is scant, so there is little to no information on its ecology or habits. In spite of the heavy habitat destruction in the region, the civet still seems unusually threatened for a small, generalist carnivore. The region where the civet was known to occur is the site of a major trading port, formerly including the trade of civets such as the large-spotted civet. Due to this, there is some speculation on whether the Malabar civet is an introduced population of the large-spotted civet that eventually died off.[2][8]
Characteristics
The Malabar large-spotted civet is dusky gray. It has a dark mark on the cheek, large transverse dark marks on the back and sides, and two obliquely transverse dark lines on the neck. These dark marks are more pronounced than in the large Indian civet. Its throat and neck are white. A mane starts between the shoulders. Its tail is ringed with dark bands. The feet are dark.[9] It differs from the
Distribution and habitat
In the 19th century, the Malabar civet occurred throughout the
Until the 1960s, extensive deforestation has reduced most of the natural forests in the entire stretch of the coastal Western Ghats.[10] By the late 1960s, the Malabar civet was thought to be near extinction. In 1987, one individual was sighted in Kerala.[11]
In 1987, two skins were obtained near
Interviews conducted in the early 1990s among local hunters indicated the presence of Malabar civet in protected areas of Karnataka.[4] During camera trapping surveys in lowland evergreen and semi-evergreen forests in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and Kerala from April 2006 to March 2007, no photographic record was obtained in a total of 1,084 camera trap nights.[12]
Ecology and behavior
The Malabar civet is considered
Threats
Until a few decades ago, local merchants in Kerala reared Malabar civets to obtain civetone, an extract from the scent gland, which was used in medicine, and as an aromatic.[4]
It is now seriously threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation. Until the 1990s, it was confined to remnant forests and disturbed thickets in cashew and rubber plantations in northern Kerala, where the hunting pressure was another major threat.[3]
Alleged sighting
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of India, a video clip of an unidentified civet walking the deserted streets of Meppayur was uploaded on Twitter. The civet was identified by its uploader as a Malabar civet and the clip subsequently went viral online. However, numerous experts identified the civet in the video as actually being the small Indian civet (Viverricula indica), a similar-looking but far more common species.[13]
References
- OCLC 62265494.
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c Rai, N. D. and Kumar, A. (1993). A pilot study on the conservation of the Malabar civet, Viverra civettina (Blyth, 1862): project report. Small Carnivore Conservation 9: 3–7.
- ^ Blyth, E. (1862). "Report of Curator, Zoological Department, February 1862". The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 31 (3): 331–345.
- ^ a b Pocock, R. I. (1939). "Moschothera civettina (Blyth). The Malabar Civet". The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Mammalia Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 358–362.
- ^ Ellerman, J. R.; Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. (1966). Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals 1758 to 1946 (Second ed.). London: British Museum of Natural History.
- ^ "The Elusive Malabar Civet". Conservation India. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ a b Jerdon, T. C. (1874). Mammals of India: a natural history of the animals known to inhabit continental India. John Wheldon, London.
- ^ Champion, H. G. and Seth, S. K. (1968). A revised survey of the forest types of India. Government of India, Delhi.
- ^ Kurup, C. U. (1987). "The rediscovery of the Malabar civet, Viverra megaspila civettina Blyth in India". Cheetal. 28 (2): 1–4.
- ^ Rao, S.; Ashraf, N. V. K. & Nixon, A. M. A. (2007). "Search for the Malabar Civet Viverra civettina in Karnataka and Kerala, India, 2006–2007" (PDF). Small Carnivore Conservation. 37: 6–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2015.
- ^ Evon, D. (2020). "Was a Rare Malabar Civet Spotted During COVID-19 Lockdown?". Snopes.com. Retrieved 30 March 2020.