Yellow mongoose
Template:Short description Template:More footnotes
Script error: No such module "Autotaxobox".| Script error: No such module "Automated taxobox". | |
|---|---|
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. | |
| Yellow mongoose in Khomas Region, Namibia | |
Script error: No such module "Conservation status".
| |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: | <div style="display:inline" class="script error: no such module "taxobox ranks".">Template:Taxon infoTemplate:Taxon italics |
| Binomial name | |
| Template:Taxon infoTemplate:Taxon italics (Cuvier, 1829)
| |
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. | |
| Yellow mongoose range | |
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. | |
Page Template:Taxobox/core/styles.css has no content.Template:Taxonbar/candidateTemplate:Speciesbox/parameterCheckScript error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
The yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata), sometimes referred to as the red meerkat, is a member of the mongoose family. It averages about Template:Cvt in weight and about Template:Cvt in length. It lives in open country, semi-desert scrubland and grasslands in Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. It is the only species in the genus Cynictis.
Taxonomy
Page Template:Stack/styles.css has no content.
Herpestes penicillatus was the scientific name proposed by Georges Cuvier in 1829 for a mongoose specimen from the Cape.[2] The generic name Cynictis was proposed by William Ogilby in 1833 for a specimen collected in Kaffraria.[3]
The yellow mongoose is the only member of the genus Cynictis; 12 subspecies have been described, but their status is unclear.[4] At least four subspecies have been recognised:[5]
- Grizzled yellow mongoose (C. p. coombsi)
- Natal yellow mongoose (C. p. natalensis)
- Southern yellow mongoose (C. p. penicillata)
Characteristics
In general, the yellow mongoose has lighter highlights on the underbelly and chin, a bushy tail, and a complete lack of sexual dimorphism. Southern yellow mongooses are larger, have yellow or reddish fur, longer fur, and a longer tail with a characteristic white tip. Northern subspecies tend towards smaller size, grey colouration, a grey or darker grey tip to the tail, and shorter hair more appropriate to the hotter climate.
Behaviour and ecology
The yellow mongoose is primarily diurnal, though nocturnal activity has been observed. Living in colonies of up to 20 individuals in a permanent burrow complex, the yellow mongoose will often co-exist with Cape ground squirrels or suricates and share maintenance of the warren, adding new tunnels and burrows as necessary. The tunnel system has many entrances, nearby which the yellow mongoose makes its latrines.
The yellow mongoose is a carnivore, feeding mostly on beetles, termites, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and ants, but also on rodents, small birds, reptiles, amphibians, carrion, eggs, grass, and seeds.[6] In urban environments in South Africa, it also forages among human food garbage.[7]
Social structure
The social structure of the yellow mongoose is hierarchical, based around a central breeding pair and their most recent offspring. There are also subadults, the elderly, or adult relatives of the central pair. Male ranges tend to overlap, while females from other dens have contiguous non-overlapping ranges. Every day, the alpha male will mark members of his group with anal gland secretions, and his boundaries with facial and anal secretions, as well as urine. The alpha male also rubs his back against raised objects, leaving behind hair as a visual marker of territory. Other members of the group mark their dens with cheek secretions. A colony can have 20-40 members.
Predators
Predators of the yellow mongoose are birds of prey, snakes and jackals. When frightened, the yellow mongoose will growl and secrete from its anal glands. It can also scream, bark, and purr, though these are exceptions, as the yellow mongoose is usually silent, and communicates mood and status through tail movements.
Reproduction
The yellow mongoose's mating season is between July and September, and it gives birth underground between October and December, with no bedding material, in a clean chamber of the burrow system. Usually, two offspring are produced per pregnancy, and they are weaned at 10 weeks, reaching adult size after 10 months.
Rabies
There is some concern about the yellow mongoose's role as a natural reservoir of rabies. Most African wild animals die within several weeks of infection with rabies, but it seems that certain genetic strains of the yellow mongoose can carry it asymptomatically, but infectiously, for years.[8]
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Template:Cite iucn
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cuvier, G. (1829). "Les Mangoustes. Cuv. (Herpestes, Illiger)". Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. Paris: Chez Déterville. pp. 157–158.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ogilby, W. (1833). "Characters of a new Genus of carnivorous Mammalia from the collection of Mr. Steedman". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (Part 1): 48–49.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Species Cynictis penicillata". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 564. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Skinner, J. D.; Chimimba, C. T. (2005). The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region (3 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9781107340992. ISBN 978-0-521-84418-5.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cynictis penicillata (Yellow mongoose)". Animal Diversity Web.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cronk, E.; Pillay, N. (2019). "Flexible Use of Urban Resources by the Yellow Mongoose Cynictis penicillata". Animals. 9 (7): 447. doi:10.3390/ani9070447. PMC 6680935. PMID 31315216.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Taylor, P.J. (1993). "A systematic and population genetic approach to the rabies problem in the yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)" (PDF). Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research. 60 (4): 379–387. PMID 7777324.
Further reading
- N.L. Avenant; J.A.J. Nel: "Comparison of the diet of the yellow mongoose in a coastal and a Karoo area" in South African Journal of Wildlife Research (1992), Volume: 22, p. 89–93.
- O.A.E. Rasa; B.A. Wenhold; P. Howard; A. Marais: "Reproduction in the yellow mongoose revisited" in South African Journal of Zoology (1992), Vol. 27, No. 4, p. 192.
- B.A. Wenhold; O.A.E. Rasa: "Territorial marking in the Yellow mongoose Cynictis penicillata: sexual advertisement for subordinates?" in Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde (1994), Vol.59, No.3, p. 129.
Script error: No such module "Navbox with collapsible groups". Template:Feliformia Script error: No such module "Taxonbar".
.jpg){kind=link}
