Viverridae is a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of small to medium-sized
feliform
Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Cani ...
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s, comprising 14
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
with 33
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
. This family was named and first described by
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray (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 a z ...
in 1821.
Viverrids occur all over
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, in
southern Europe
Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...
,
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
on both sides of the
Wallace Line
The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley.
It separates the biogeographic realms of Asia and 'Wallacea', a ...
.
The word viverridae comes from the Latin word .
The species of the subfamily
Genettinae are known as
genets and
oyans. The viverrids of the subfamily
Viverrinae are commonly called civets; the
Paradoxurinae
Paradoxurinae is a subfamily of the feliform Viverridae, viverrids that was denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864. Reginald Innes Pocock, Pocock subordinated the Genus (biology), genera ''Paradoxurus'', ''Paguma'' and ''Arct ...
and most
Hemigalinae species are called palm civets.
Characteristics

Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractile
claws
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tars ...
. They have six
incisors
Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...
in each jaw and
molars
The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...
with two tubercular grinders behind in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. The tongue is rough with sharp prickles. A pouch or
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 ...
occurs beneath the anus, but there is no
cecum
The cecum ( caecum, ; plural ceca or caeca, ) is a pouch within the peritoneum that is considered to be the beginning of the large intestine. It is typically located on the right side of the body (the same side of the body as the appendix (a ...
.
[ The male's urethral opening is directed backward.
Viverrids are the most primitive of all the families of ]feliform
Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Cani ...
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 ...
and clearly less specialized than the Felidae
Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ).
The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the gre ...
. In external characteristics, they are distinguished from the Felidae by the longer muzzle and tuft of facial vibrissae between the lower jaw
In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla).
The jawbone i ...
bones, and by the shorter limbs and the five-toed hind foot with the first digit present. The skull differs by the position of the postpalatine foramina on the maxilla
In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...
, almost always well in advance of the maxillopalatine suture, and usually about the level of the second 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 ...
; and by the distinct external division of the auditory bulla
The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal.
It originates as a separate bone (tympanic b ...
into its two elements either by a definite groove or, when rarely this is obliterated, by the depression of the tympanic bone
The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal.
It originates as a separate bone (tympanic ...
in front of the swollen entotympanic. The typical 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-physiology ...
is: , but the number may be reduced, although never to the same extent as in the Felidae.[
Their flesh-shearing ]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 relatively undeveloped compared to those of other feliform carnivorans. Most viverrid species have a penis bone (a baculum
The baculum (: bacula), also known as the penis bone, penile bone, ''os penis'', ''os genitale'', or ''os priapi'', is a bone in the penis of many placental mammals. It is not present in humans, but is present in the penises of some primates, ...
).
Classification
Living species
In 1821, Gray defined this family as consisting of the genera '' Viverra'', ''Genetta
A genet (pronounced or ) is a member of the genus ''Genetta'', which consists of 17 species of small African carnivorans. The common genet is the only genet present in Europe and occurs in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and France.
Genet fossil ...
'', '' Herpestes'', and ''Suricata''.[ ]Reginald Innes Pocock
Reginald Innes Pocock, (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist.
Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's ...
later redefined the family as containing a great number of highly diversified genera, and being susceptible of division into several subfamilies, based mainly on the structure of the feet and of some highly specialized 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 se ...
s, derived from the skin, which are present in most of the species and are situated in the region of the external generative organs. He subordinated the subfamilies Hemigalinae, Paradoxurinae
Paradoxurinae is a subfamily of the feliform Viverridae, viverrids that was denominated and first described by John Edward Gray in 1864. Reginald Innes Pocock, Pocock subordinated the Genus (biology), genera ''Paradoxurus'', ''Paguma'' and ''Arct ...
, Prionodontinae, and Viverrinae to the Viverridae.[
In 1833, Edward Turner Bennett described the Malagasy fossa (''Cryptoprocta ferox'') and subordinated the ''Cryptoprocta'' to the Viverridae. A ]molecular
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...
and morphological analysis based on DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
/DNA hybridization experiments suggests that ''Cryptoprocta'' does not belong within Viverridae, but is a member of the 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 ...
.
The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata'') resembles the civets of the Viverridae, but is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic
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 "unisp ...
family, the Nandiniidae. There is little dispute that the ''Poiana'' species are viverrids.[
]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 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 species, comprising 13 Viverrinae species and three species representing '' Paradoxurus'', '' Paguma'' and Hemigalinae, confirmed Pocock's assumption that the African linsang ''Poiana'' represents the sister group
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 genus ''Genetta
A genet (pronounced or ) is a member of the genus ''Genetta'', which consists of 17 species of small African carnivorans. The common genet is the only genet present in Europe and occurs in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and France.
Genet fossil ...
''. The placement of '' Prionodon'' as the sister group of the family Felidae
Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ).
The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the gre ...
is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the monogeneric family Prionodontidae.
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships of Viverridae are shown in the following cladogram:
Extinct species
See also
* List of viverrids
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Mammal families
Extant Ypresian first appearances
Taxa named by John Edward Gray