The eastern falanouc (''Eupleres goudotii'') is a rare mongoose-like mammal in the

carnivora Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivor ...

n family

Eupleridae Eupleridae is a Family (biology), family of carnivorans endemic to Madagascar and comprising 10 known living species in seven genus, genera, commonly known as euplerids, Malagasy mongooses or Malagasy carnivorans. The best known species is t ...

endemic to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is classified alongside the Western falanouc (''Eupleres major''), recognized only in 2010, in the genus '' Eupleres''. Falanoucs have several peculiarities. They have no anal or perineal

gland A gland is a Cell (biology), cell or an Organ (biology), organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances that the organism needs, either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface. A gland may also funct ...

s (unlike their closest relative, the fanaloka), nonretractile claws, and a unique

dentition 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-physiology ...

: the canines and

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

s are backwards-curving and flat. This is thought to be related to their prey, mostly invertebrates, such as

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

s, and

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e. It lives primarily in the lowland

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of eastern Madagascar, while ''E. major'' is found in northwest Madagascar. It is solitary and territorial, but whether nocturnal or diurnal is unknown. It is small (about 50 centimetres long with a 24-centimetre-long tail) and shy (clawing, not biting, in self-defence). It most closely resembles the

mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, A ...

s with its long snout and low body, though its colouration is plain and brown (most mongooses have colouring schemes such as striping, banding, or other variations on the hands and feet). Its life cycle displays periods of fat buildup during April and May, before the dry months of June and July. It has a brief courting period and weaning period, the young being weaned before the next

mating season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...

. Its reproductive cycle is fast. The offspring (one per litter) are born in burrows with opened eyes and can move with the mother through dense foliage at only two days old. In nine weeks, the already well-developed young are on solid food and shortly thereafter they leave their mothers. Though it is fast in gaining mobility (so as to follow its mother on forages), it grows at a slower rate than comparatively-sized

ns. "Falanoucs are threatened by habitat loss, humans, dogs and an introduced competitor, the small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'')." ''Viverricula indica'' are also carnivores, and they had much spatial and temporal overlap with ''Eupleres goudotii'' when introduced to the same ecosystem the ''Eupleres goudotii'' were in. This overlap has shown to potentially have a negative impact on native carnivore populations such as the ''Eupleres goudotii'' because of the two species competing for similar resources.

References

Sources

*Macdonald, David (ed). ''The Encyclopedia of Mammals''. (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 1984)

External links

Eupleres goudotii
- Animal Diversity Web
Images and Video
- ARKive.org {{Taxonbar, from=Q181565 EDGE species eastern falanouc Mammals of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar eastern falanouc