The African striped weasel (''Poecilogale albinucha''), the lone member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Poecilogale'', is a small, black and white weasel native to sub-Saharan Africa.

Description

The African striped weasel is one of the smallest mammalian carnivores in

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 has an elongated body and short legs. Adults have a head-body length of , with the tail adding a further . Males are larger than females, weighing an average of , compared with . The fur is mostly black, with four white to pale yellowish bands running down the back, a white patch on the top of the head, and a white tail. The head is elongated, with small eyes, a short, broad snout, and short ears. The

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 f ...

teeth are short, and the canine teeth long. The claws are sharp and curved, and the tail is long and bushy. Females typically have four

teat A teat is the projection from the mammary glands of mammals from which milk flows or is ejected for the purpose of feeding young. In many mammals the teat projects from the udder. The number of teats varies by mammalian species and often corr ...

s. Like many other

mustelid 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 family ...

s, the African striped weasel has well-developed

scent gland Scent gland are exocrine glands found in most mammals. They produce semi-viscous secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territorial marking, mood, and s ...

s in the perineal region that can spray a noxious fluid when the animal feels threatened.

Distribution and habitat

African striped weasels inhabit much of Africa south of the equator. They are found from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

across to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

in the north, and as far south as southern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Within this region, they are most common in savannah habitats, but may also be found in forests and grasslands. They commonly live below elevation, but may occasionally be found as high as .

Behaviour

African striped weasels are nocturnal hunters of small mammals, birds, and reptiles, but feed almost entirely on

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 of their own size or smaller. The weasels hunt primarily by scent, attacking prey with a sudden lunge and striking at the back of the neck. After the initial strike, they kill by whipping their own bodies and kicking, making use of their thin, lithe, muscular build to stun and tear the prey item. They sometimes store prey in their burrow instead of eating it immediately. The weasel is generally solitary, but individuals sometimes pair up to dig burrows. They are effective diggers, but may sometimes rest in natural cavities such as hollow logs or rock crevices. They deposit dung in well-defined latrine locations, possibly as a means of scent marking. Males are aggressive when they encounter one another, at first fluffing their tails, making short cries and fake charges, and then escalating to fighting with bites, shaking, and aggressive shrieks if neither individual retreats. African striped weasels have been identified as making six different calls. Apart from the warning and aggressive calls mentioned above, and a third call that transitions between the two, another call signals submission of a retreating male, another call indicates surrender during a fight, and a greeting call is used only between males and females and between young and their mother. Young weasels also make distress calls when separated from their mother.

Reproduction

Mating occurs between spring and summer, and includes at least three bouts of copulation, each lasting 60 to 80 minutes, in a single 24-hour period. Females give birth to a single litter of two or three young after a gestation period of 30 days. The young are born in a burrow, and are initially blind and hairless, weighing just each. Their canine teeth erupt at 5 weeks, and their eyes open after 7 weeks. By 11 weeks of age, they are

weaned Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...

, and they start killing their own prey at 13 weeks. They reach the full adult size at 20 weeks, and are sexually mature at 8 months.

In folklore

According to African folklore, if one cuts off the nose of a weasel, it will grow back two shades lighter in colour, but it will bring misfortune to the family and lead to a poor harvest. This myth gave birth to expression, "A weasel's nose is not to be trifled with."

Diet

African striped weasels mainly feed on mice and other small rodents. They also occasionally feed on birds and eggs.

References

''P. albinucha'' at Animal Diversity
* Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). ''Walker's Carnivores of the World''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. {{Taxonbar, from=Q852756 Mammals described in 1864 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Carnivorans of Africa Fauna of East Africa Mammals of Angola Mammals of Botswana Mammals of Kenya Mammals of South Africa Mammals of Tanzania Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of the Republic of the Congo Mammals of Zambia Ictonychinae