Mongoose
Mongoose Temporal range: Early Miocene to present, 21.8–0 Ma | |
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Top left: Meerkat Top right: Yellow mongoose Bottom left: Slender mongoose Bottom right: Indian gray mongoose | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Superfamily: | Herpestoidea |
Family: | Herpestidae Bonaparte, 1845 |
Type genus | |
Herpestes | |
Genera[1] | |
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Synonyms[1] | |
List
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A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa.[2] The Herpestidae originated about 21.8 ± 3.6 million years ago in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main genetic lineages between 19.1 and 18.5 ± 3.5 million years ago.[3]
Etymology
The name is derived from names used in India for Herpestes species:[4][5][6][7] muṅgūs or maṅgūs in classical Hindi;[8] muṅgūs in Marathi;[9] mungisa in Telugu;[10] mungi, mungisi and munguli in Kannada.[11]
The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its "-goose" ending by folk etymology.[12] It was spelled "mungoose" in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The plural form is "mongooses".[13]
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. 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 of mongooses is 3.1.3–4.1–23.1.3–4.1–2. They range from 24 to 58 cm (9.4 to 22.8 in) in head-to-body length, excluding the tail. In weight, they range from 320 g (11 oz) to 5 kg (11 lb).[14]
Mongooses are one of at least four known mammalian taxa with mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that protect against snake venom.[15] 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.[16]
Taxonomy
Herpestina was a scientific name proposed by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1845 who considered the mongooses a subfamily of the Viverridae.[17] In 1864, John Edward Gray classified the mongooses into three subfamilies: Galidiinae, Herpestinae and Mungotinae.[18] This grouping was supported by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1919, who referred to the family as "Mungotidae".[19]
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.[20][21] Galidiinae is presently considered a subfamily of Eupleridae.[22]
Subfamily | Genus | Species | Image of type species |
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Herpestinae | Herpestes Illiger, 1811[23] |
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Atilax Cuvier, 1826[29] | Marsh mongoose (A. paludinosus) (Cuvier, 1829)[30] | ![]() | |
Cynictis Ogilby, 1833[31] | Yellow mongoose (C. penicillata) (Cuvier, 1829)[30] | ![]() | |
Urva Hodgson, 1836[32] |
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Ichneumia Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1837[38] | White-tailed mongoose (I. albicauda) (Cuvier, 1829)[30] | ![]() | |
Bdeogale Peters, 1850[39] |
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Rhynchogale Thomas, 1894[45] | Meller's mongoose (R. melleri) Gray, 1865[18] | ![]() | |
Paracynictis Pocock, 1916 | Selous's mongoose (P. selousi) (de Winton, 1896) | ![]() | |
Xenogale Allen, 1919[46] | Long-nosed mongoose (X. naso) (de Winton, 1901)[47] | ![]() | |
Mungotinae | Mungos E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & F. Cuvier, 1795[48] |
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Suricata Desmarest, 1804[51] | Meerkat (S. suricatta) (Schreber, 1776)[52] | ![]() | |
Crossarchus Cuvier, 1825 |
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Helogale Gray, 1861 |
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Dologale Thomas, 1920 | Pousargues's mongoose (D. dybowskii) Pousargues, 1894[53] | ![]() | |
Liberiictis Hayman, 1958 | Liberian mongoose (L. kuhni) Hayman, 1958 |
Phylogenetic relationships
Phylogenetic research of 18 mongoose species revealed that the solitary and social mongooses form different clades.[54] The phylogenetic relationships of Herpestidae are shown in the following cladogram:[55][3]
Herpestidae |
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Extinct species
- †A. mesotes Ewer 1956
- †H. lemanensis Pomel, 1853
Leptoplesictis Major, 1903[56]
- †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 insects, crabs, earthworms, lizards, birds, and rodents. However, they also eat eggs and carrion.[57]
Some species can learn simple tricks. They can be tamed and are kept as pets to control vermin.[58]
Cultural significance
In ancient Mesopotamia, mongooses were sacred to the deity Ninkilim, who was conflated with Ningirama, 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.[59]
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.[60]
A well-known fictional mongoose is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, who appears in a short story of the same title in The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling. In this tale set in India, a young pet mongoose saves his human family from a krait 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", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Indian Tamil devotional film Padai Veetu Amman shows Tamil actor Vinu Chakravarthy changing himself into a mongoose by using his evil tantric mantra, 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.[61]
See also
References
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- ^ Gilchrist, J.S.; Jennings, A.P.; Veron, G. & Cavallini, P. (2009). "Family Herpestidae (Mongooses)". In Wilson, D. E. & Mittermeier, R. A. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. Carnivores. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 262–328. ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1.
- ^ a b c d Patou, M.; Mclenachan, P.A.; Morley, C.G.; Couloux, A.; Jennings, A.P.; Veron, G. (2009). "Molecular phylogeny of the Herpestidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) with a special emphasis on the Asian Herpestes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 53 (1): 69–80. Bibcode:2009MolPE..53...69P. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.038. PMID 19520178.
- ^ Valentini, M.B. & Major, J.D. (1714). "Viverra Indica grysea. Mungos". Museum museorum, oder, Vollständige Schau Bühne aller Materialien und Specereyen. Vol. 2 Appendix IX. Franckfurt am Mayn: Johann David Zunners Sel. Erben, und Johann Adam Jungen. p. 24.
- ^ Jerdon, T.C. (1874). "127. Herpestes griseus". The mammals of India; a natural history of all the animals known to inhabit continental India. London: J. Wheldon. pp. 132–134.
- ^ Sterndale, R.A. (1884). "Herpestidae. The Ichneumon or Mungoose Family". Natural history of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon. Calcutta: Thacker & Spink. pp. 222–228.
- ^ Lydekker, R. (1894). "XIII. The Mungooses. Genus Herpestes". A hand-book to the Carnivora. Part 1: Cats, civets, and mungooses. London: Edward Lloyd Limited. pp. 244–269.
- ^ Platts, J.T. (1884). "منگوس मुंगूस muṅgūs, or मंगूस maṅgūs. The Mongoose, or ichneumon, Viverra ichneumon". A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English. London: W. H. Allen & Co. p. 1081.
- ^ Molesworth, J. T. (1857). "मुंगूस muṅgūsa, Bengal Mungoose, Viverra Ichneumon, or Herpesteus Griseus". A dictionary, Marathi and English (Second, revised and enlarged ed.). Bombay: Printed for Government at the Bombay Education Society's Press. p. 384. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ Brown, C.P. (1903). "ముంగి or ముంగిస mungi. The ichneumon or mongoose, a kind of weasel. Viverra ichneumon". A Telugu-English dictionary (New, thoroughly revised and brought up to date second ed.). Madras: Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 997.
- ^ Reeve, W. & Sanderson, D. (1858). "ಮುಂಗಿ, ಮುಂಗಿಸಿ, ಮುಂಗುಲಿ". A dictionary, Canarese and English (Revised, corrected and enlarged ed.). Bangalore: Wesleyan Mission Press. p. 787.
- ^ Forsyth, M. (2012). "Folk etymology". The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language. Penguin Books. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-101-61176-0.
- ^ Hinton, H. E. & Dunn, A. M. S. (1967). "Preface". Mongooses: Their Natural History and Behaviour. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. v. OCLC 1975837.
- ^ Macdonald, D., ed. (2009). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 660. ISBN 978-0-19-956799-7.
- ^ Barchan, D.; Kachalsky, S., Neumann, D., Vogel, Z., Ovadia, M., Kochva, E. and Fuchs, S. (1992). "How the mongoose can fight the snake: the binding site of the mongoose acetylcholine receptor" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 89 (16): 7717–7721. Bibcode:1992PNAS...89.7717B. doi:10.1073/pnas.89.16.7717. PMC 49782. PMID 1380164.
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- ^ de Winton, W. E. (1901). "Description of a New Mongoose from West Africa". Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums Under the City Council. 3 (2): 35–37.
- ^ Geoffroy, E. & Cuvier, F. (1795). "Mémoire sur une nouvelle division des Mammifères, et sur Ies principes qui doivent servir de base dans cette sorte de travail, lu à la société d'Histoire naturelle, le premier floréal de l'an troisième". In Millin; Noel & Warens (eds.). Magasin Encyclopédique: ou journal des sciences, des lettres et des arts. Vol. Tome second. Paris: I'lmprimerie du Magazin Encyclopédique. pp. 164–189.
- ^ Gmelin, J. F. (1788). "Viverra mungo". Caroli a Linné, Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. I (13th aucta, reformata ed.). Lipsiae: Georg Emanuel Beer. pp. 84–85.
- ^ Ogilby, W. (1835). "Descriptions of Mammalia and Birds from the Gambia". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part III: 97–105.
- ^ Desmarest, A. G. (1804). "Genre Surikate, Suricata Nob.". In Deterville, J. F. P. (ed.). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle appliquée aux arts: principalement à l'agriculture et à l'économie rurale et domestique. Vol. 24. Paris: Deterville. p. 15.
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- ^ de Pousargues, E. (1894). "Description d'une nouvelle espèce de mammifère du genre Crossarchus et considérations sur la répartition géographique des crossarques rayés". Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. 3 (in French). 6: 121–134.
- ^ Veron, G.; Colyn, M.; Dunham, A.E.; Taylor, P.; Gaubert, P. (2004). "Molecular systematics and origin of sociality in mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30 (3): 582–598. Bibcode:2004MolPE..30..582V. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00229-X. PMID 15012940.
- ^ Barycka, E. (2005). "Evolution and systematics of the feliform Carnivora". Mammalian Biology. 72 (5): 257–282. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2006.10.011.
- ^ Morales, J.; Pickford, M.; Salesa, M.J. (2008). "Creodonta and Carnivora from the Early Miocene of the Northern Sperrgebiet, Namibia". Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia. 20: 291–310.
- ^ Cronk, N. E.; Pillay, N. (2018). "Food choice and feeding on carrion in two African mongoose species in an urban environment". Acta Ethologica. 21 (2): 127–136. doi:10.1007/s10211-018-0291-x. S2CID 21688548.
- ^ Sherman, D. M. (2007). Tending Animals in the Global Village: A Guide to International Veterinary Medicine. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-29210-5.
- ^ Black, J.; Green, A. (1992). Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. The British Museum Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-7141-1705-6.
- ^ "Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 2003 - Schedule 2 Prohibited new organisms". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ Krueger, A. (2010). "Remembering Duluth's famous mongoose, Mr. Magoo". Duluth News Tribune. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
Further reading
- Rasa, A. (1986). Mongoose Watch: A Family Observed. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, Doubleday & Co. ISBN 978-0-385-23175-6. OCLC 12664019.
- Lodrick, D. O. (1982). "Man and Mongoose in Indian Culture". Anthropos. 77 (1/2): 191–214. JSTOR 40460438.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikispecies-logo.svg/34px-Wikispecies-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "Ichneumon" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Infraclass: Eutheria
- Superorder: Laurasiatheria
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