A mongoose is a small terrestrial
carnivorous mammal belonging to the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 the appropriate s ...
that are native to
southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa.
The Herpestidae originated about in the
Early Miocene
The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages.
The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
and
genetically diverged into two main
genetic lineage A genetic lineage, also known as genetic pedigree, is a series of mutations which connect an ancestral genetic type (allele, haplotype, or haplogroup) to derivative type. In cases where the genetic tree is very bushy the order of mutations in the li ...
s between 19.1 and .
Etymology
The English word "mongoose" used to be spelled "mungoose" in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name is derived from names used in India for ''Herpestes'' species:
or in classical
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
;
in
Marathi;
in
Telugu;
, and in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
.
The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its "-
goose
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...
" ending by
folk etymology. The plural form is "mongooses".
Characteristics
Mongooses have long faces and bodies, small, rounded ears, short legs, and long, tapering tails. Most are
brindled or grizzly; a few have strongly marked coats which bear a striking resemblance to
mustelids
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest famil ...
. Their nonretractile claws are used primarily for digging. Mongooses, much like goats, have narrow, ovular
pupils. Most species have a large anal scent gland, used for territorial marking and signaling reproductive status. The
dental formula
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolog ...
of mongooses is .
They range from in head-to-body length, excluding the tail. In weight, they range from to .
Mongooses are one of at least four known mammalian taxa with mutations in the
nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are receptor polypeptides that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotinic receptors also respond to drugs such as the agonist nicotine. They are found in the central and peripheral ner ...
that
protect against snake venom. Their modified receptors prevent the
snake venom α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. In the mongoose, this change is effected, uniquely, by
glycosylation.
Taxonomy
Herpestina was a
scientific name proposed by
Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1845 who considered the mongooses a
subfamily of the
Viverridae
Viverridae is a family (biology), 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, ...
.
In 1864,
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...
classified the mongooses into three subfamilies:
Galidiinae, Herpestinae and Mungotinae.
This grouping was supported by
Reginald Innes Pocock in 1919, who referred to the family as "Mungotidae".
Genetic research based on
nuclear and
mitochondrial DNA analyses revealed that the Galidiinae are more closely related to Madagascar carnivores, including the
fossa and
Malagasy civet.
Galidiinae is presently considered a subfamily of
Eupleridae
Eupleridae is a family of carnivorans endemic to Madagascar and comprising 10 known living species in seven genera, commonly known as euplerids, Malagasy mongooses or Malagasy carnivorans. The best known species is the fossa (''Cryptoproct ...
.
Phylogenetic relationships
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
research of 18 mongoose species revealed that the solitary and social mongooses form different
clades.
The phylogenetic relationships of Herpestidae are shown in the following cladogram:
Extinct species
''
Atilax''
* †
''A. mesotes''
''
Herpestes''
* †
''H. lemanensis''
''
Leptoplesictis''
* †''L. atavus''
Beaumont, 1973
* †''L. aurelianensis''
Schlosser, 1888
* †''L. filholi''
Gaillard, 1899
* †''L. mbitensis''
Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
* †''L. namibiensis''
Morales ''et al.'', 2008
* †''L. peignei'',
Grohé ''et al''., 2020
* †''L. rangwai''
Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
* †''L. senutae''
Morales ''et al.'', 2008
Behaviour and ecology
Mongooses mostly feed on
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s,
crabs,
earthworm
An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...
s,
lizards,
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s, and
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s. However, they also eat
eggs and
carrion.
Some species can learn simple tricks. They can be semi-
domesticated
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...
and are kept as pets to control
vermin
Vermin ( colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterp ...
.
Cultural significance
In ancient
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, mongooses were sacred to the deity
Ninkilim, who was conflated with
Ningirama
Ningirima was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with incantations, attested already in the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period. She was also associated with snakes, fish and water. According to the god list ''An = Anum'' and ...
, a deity of magic who was invoked for protection against serpents. According to a
Babylonian popular saying, when a mouse fled from a mongoose into a serpent's hole, it announced, "I bring you greetings from the snake-charmer!" A creature resembling a mongoose also appears in Old Babylonian
glyptic art, but its significance is not known.
All mongoose species, except for ''Suricata suricatta'', are classed as a "prohibited new organism" under New Zealand's
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing them from being imported into the country.
A well-known fictional mongoose is
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a short story in the 1894 anthology ''The Jungle Book'' by Rudyard Kipling about adventures of a valiant young Indian grey mongoose. It has often been anthologized and has been published several times as a short book. Book 5 ...
, who appears in a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
of the same title in ''
The Jungle Book'' (1894) by
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
. In this tale set in India, a young pet mongoose saves his human family from a
krait
''Bungarus'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, the kraits ("krait" is pronounced , rhyming with "kite"), found in South and Southeast Asia. The genus ''Bungarus'' has 16 species.
Distribution
Kraits are found in tropical Asia, from near Ira ...
and from Nag and Nagaina, two
cobras. The story was later made into several films and a song by
Donovan, among other references. A mongoose is also featured in
Bram Stoker's novel ''
The Lair of the White Worm''. The main character, Adam Salton, purchases one to independently hunt snakes. Another mongoose features in the denouement of the
Sherlock Holmes story "
The Adventure of the Crooked Man
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in ''The Strand Magazin ...
", by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
. The Indian Tamil devotional film ''
Padai Veetu Amman'' shows Tamil actor
Vinu Chakravarthy changing himself into a mongoose by using his evil tantric
mantra
A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
, to fight the goddess Amman. However, the mongoose finally dies at the hands of the goddess.
Mongoose species are prohibited to be kept as pets in the United States.
See also
*
List of herpestids
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q80479
Extant Oligocene first appearances
Mammals of Africa
Mammals of Asia
Marathi terms
Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte