The Asiatic linsang (''Prionodon'') is a genus comprising two

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

native to Southeast Asia: the banded linsang (''Prionodon linsang'') and the

spotted linsang The spotted linsang (''Prionodon pardicolor'') 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. Characterist ...

(''Prionodon pardicolor''). ''Prionodon'' is considered a

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of the Felidae.

Characteristics

The coat pattern of the Asiatic linsang is distinct, consisting of large spots that sometimes coalesce into broad bands on the sides of the body; the tail is banded transversely. It is small in size with a head and body length ranging from and a long tail. The tail is nearly as long as the head and body, and about five or six times as long as the hind foot. The head is elongated with a narrow muzzle,

rhinarium The rhinarium (New Latin, "belonging to the nose"; plural: rhinaria) is the furless skin surface surrounding the external openings of the nostrils in many mammals. Commonly it is referred to as the tip of the '' snout'', and breeders of cats and ...

evenly convex above, with wide internarial

septum In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatr ...

, shallow infranarial portion, and

philtrum The philtrum ( la, philtrum from Ancient Greek ''phíltron,'' lit. "love charm"), or medial cleft, is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to therian mammals, extending in humans from the nasal septum to the tuberc ...

narrow and grooved, the groove extending only about to the level of the lower edge of the nostrils. The delicate skull is long, low, and narrow with a well defined

occipital The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cere ...

and a strong crest, but there is no complete

sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptiona ...

. The teeth also are more highly specialized, and show an approach to those of Felidae, although more primitive. The dental formula is . The incisors form a transverse, not a curved, line; the first three upper and the four lower pre- molars are compressed and trenchant with a high, sharp, median

cusp A cusp is the most pointed end of a curve. It often refers to cusp (anatomy), a pointed structure on a tooth. Cusp or CUSP may also refer to: Mathematics * Cusp (singularity), a singular point of a curve * Cusp catastrophe, a branch of bifurc ...

and small subsidiary cusps in front and behind it. The upper

carnassial Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified ...

has a small inner lobe set far forwards, a small cusp in front of the main compressed, high, pointed cusp, and a compressed, blade-like posterior cusp; the upper molar is triangular, transversely set, much smaller than the upper carnassial, and much wider than it is long, so that the upper carnassial is nearly at the posterior end of the upper cheek-teeth as in Felidae.

Systematics

Taxonomic history

With Viverridae (morphological)

''Prionodon'' was denominated and first described by

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the East India Company ...

in 1822, based on a linsang from Java. He had placed the linsang under ‘section Prionodontidae’ of the genus ''

Felis ''Felis'' is a genus of small and medium-sized cat species native to most of Africa and south of 60° latitude in Europe and Asia to Indochina. The genus includes the domestic cat. The smallest ''Felis'' species is the black-footed cat with a ...

'', because of similarities to both genera ''

Viverra ''Viverra'' is a mammalian genus that was first nominated and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as comprising several species including the large Indian civet (''V. zibetha''). The genus was subordinated to the viverrid family by John Edward ...

'' and ''Felis''.Horsfield, T. (1822)
''Illustration of'' Felis gracilis
i
''Zoological researches in Java, and the neighboring islands''
Kingsbury, Parbury and Allen, London. In 1864, John Edward Gray placed the genera ''Prionodon'' and '' Poiana'' in the tribe Prionodontina, as part of

Viverridae 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, ...

.Gray, J. E. (1864)
''A revision of the genera and species of viverrine animals (Viverridae), founded on the collection in the British Museum''
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1864: 502–579. Reginald Innes Pocock initially followed Gray's classification, but the existence of scent glands in ''Poiana'' induced him provisionally to regard the latter as a specialized form of '' Genetta'', its likeness to ''Prionodon'' being possibly adaptive. Furthermore, the skeletal anatomy of Asiatic linsangs are said to be a mosaic of features of other viverrine-like mammals, as linsangs share cranial, postcranial and dental similarities with falanoucs,

African palm civet The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata''), 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. Characteristics The African palm ...

, and

oyan 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 name ''linsang'' is from Javanese ''linsang'' or ''wlinsang'', which used ...

s respectively.

With Felidae (molecular)

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

based on 29 species of

Carnivora Carnivora is a monophyletic order of placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all cat-like and dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are formally referred to as carnivorans, ...

, comprising 13 species of

Viverrinae The Viverrinae represent the largest subfamily within the Viverridae comprising five genera, which are subdivided into 22 species native to Africa and Southeast Asia. This subfamily was denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864 ...

and three species representing ''

Paradoxurus ''Paradoxurus'' is a genus of three palm civets within the viverrid family that was denominated and first described by Frédéric Cuvier in 1822. The ''Paradoxurus'' species have a broad head, a narrow muzzle with a large rhinarium that is deepl ...

'', ''

Paguma The masked palm civet (''Paguma larvata''), also called the gem-faced civet, is a palm civet species native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008 as it occurs in many p ...

'' and

Hemigalinae The Hemigalinae are a subfamily of the viverrids denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864. Hemigalinae species are native to Southeast Asia from southern China through Indochina, Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi. ...

, confirmed Pocock's assumption that the African linsang ''Poiana'' represents the sister-group of the genus ''Genetta''. The placement of ''Prionodon'' as the sister-group of the family Felidae is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the

monogeneric In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Prionodontidae.Gaubert, P. and Veron, G. (2003)
"Exhaustive sample set among Viverridae reveals the sister-group of felids: the linsangs as a case of extreme morphological convergence within Feliformia"
Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, 270 (1532): 2523–2530. There is a physical synapomorphy shared between felids and ''Prionodon'' in the presence of the specialized fused sacral vertebrae. The phylogenetic relationships of Asiatic linsangs is shown in the following cladogram:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q847194, from2=Q11757624, from3=Q17465087 Mammals of Asia Taxa named by Thomas Horsfield Feliforms Mammals described in 1822