The ring-tailed vontsira (''Galidia elegans''), locally still known as the ring-tailed mongoose, is a euplerid in the subfamily Galidiinae, a carnivoran native 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 the only species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Galidia''.

Classification and etymology

There is much disagreement about the placement of Madagascar's carnivores, including the ring-tailed vontsira, within the

phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...

. A 2003 study reported evidence that the Malagasy Carnivora evolved from a single herpestid ancestor. A monotypic genus, ''Galidia'' literally means "little

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

", being a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

form of (, "weasel" in ancient Greek). Its local

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

is ''vontsira mena'', ‘red '' vontsira''’ in Malagasy.

Description

The ring-tailed vontsira is relatively small but is the largest member of the subfamily Galidiinae. It is usually long and weighs only . Its body is long and slender, and the rounded head has a pointed snout. The body is a dark red color and the feet are black. As the name implies, its bushy tail is covered with black and red rings and is similar to the red panda. Ring-tailed vontsira are very agile, and good climbers. They are quite playful and are active during the day. Their habitat consists of humid forests. Their diet is mostly of small mammals, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds and eggs, but they occasionally eat insects and fruit. The population of ring-tailed vontsira decreased by 20% during the period 1989–1999 due to habitat loss. Another problem is competition with the small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'').

References

External links

*Animal Diversity We
Ring-tailed mongooseMalagasy ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans)
- ARKive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Ring-Tailed vontsira Euplerids Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mongoose, Ring-tailed Mammals described in 1837 Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire