Viverridae

Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized feliform mammals, comprising 14 genera with 33 species. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, in southern Europe, and in South and Southeast Asia on both sides of the Wallace Line.

The species of the subfamily Genettinae are known as genets and oyans. The viverrids of the subfamily Viverrinae are commonly called civets; the Paradoxurinae and most Hemigalinae species are called palm civets.

Characteristics

File:Binturong skeleton.jpg

Binturong (Arctictis binturong) on display at the Museum of Osteology

Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractile claws. They have six incisors in each jaw and molars 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 occurs beneath the anus, but there is no cecum. The male's urethral opening is directed backward.

Viverrids are the most primitive of all the families of feliform Carnivora and clearly less specialized than the Felidae. In external characteristics, they are distinguished from the Felidae by the longer muzzle and tuft of facial vibrissae between the lower jaw 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, almost always well in advance of the maxillopalatine suture, and usually about the level of the second premolar; and by the distinct external division of the auditory bulla into its two elements either by a definite groove or, when rarely this is obliterated, by the depression of the tympanic bone in front of the swollen entotympanic. The typical dental formula is: Template:DentalFormula, but the number may be reduced, although never to the same extent as in the Felidae.

Their flesh-shearing carnassial teeth are relatively undeveloped compared to those of other feliform carnivorans. Most viverrid species have a penis bone (a baculum).

Classification

Living species

In 1821, Gray defined this family as consisting of the genera Viverra, Genetta, Herpestes, and Suricata. Reginald Innes Pocock 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 glands, 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, 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 and morphological analysis based on DNA/DNA hybridization experiments suggests that Cryptoprocta does not belong within Viverridae, but is a member of the Eupleridae.

The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata) resembles the civets of the Viverridae, but is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, the Nandiniidae. There is little dispute that the Poiana species are viverrids.

DNA analysis based on 29 carnivoran 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 of the genus Genetta. The placement of Prionodon as the sister group of the family Felidae is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the monogeneric family Prionodontidae.

Family Viverridae

Subfamily	Genus	Species	Image of type species
Viverrinae	Viverra Linnaeus, 1758	Large Indian civet (V. zibetha) Linnaeus, 1758 Malayan civet (V. tangalunga) Gray, 1832 Malabar large-spotted civet (V. civettina) Blyth, 1862 Large-spotted civet (V. megaspila) Blyth, 1862	File:Large Indian Civet, Viverra zibetha in Kaeng Krachan national park.jpg
	Viverricula Hodgson, 1838	Small Indian civet (V. indica) (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)	File:Small Indian Civet, Silchar, Assam, India.jpg
	Civettictis Pocock, 1915	African civet (C. civetta) (Schreber, 1776)	File:Civettictis civetta 11.jpg
Hemigalinae Gray, 1864
	Hemigalus Jourdan, 1837	Banded palm civet (H. derbyanus) Jourdan, 1837	File:Banded palm civet 10.jpg
	Cynogale Gray, 1836	Otter civet (C. bennettii) Gray, 1836	File:Mampalon.jpg
	Diplogale Thomas, 1912	Hose's palm civet (D. hosei) (Thomas, 1892)	File:HemigaleHoseiSmit.jpg
	Macrogalidia Schwarz, 1910	Sulawesi palm civet (M. musschenbroekii) (Schlegel, 1877)	File:Macrogalidia musschenbroekii.jpg
	Chrotogale Thomas, 1912	Owston's palm civet (C. owstoni) Thomas, 1912	File:Chrotogale owstoni PWP.jpg
Paradoxurinae Gray, 1864	Paradoxurus Cuvier, 1822	Asian palm civet (P. hermaphroditus) (Pallas, 1777) Golden palm civet (P. zeylonensis) (Pallas, 1778) Brown palm civet (P. jerdoni) Blanford, 1885	File:Asian or Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Chambal by Dr. Raju Kasambe (6).JPG
	Arctictis Temminck, 1824	Binturong (A. binturong) (Raffles, 1822)	File:Binturong in Overloon.jpg
	Paguma Gray, 1831	Masked palm civet (P. larvata) (Smith, 1827)	File:Palm civet on tree (detail).jpg
	Arctogalidia Merriam, 1897	Small-toothed palm civet (A. trivirgata) (Gray, 1832)	File:Small-toothed Palm Civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata stigmatica) (8076736823) (cut).jpg
Genettinae	Genetta Cuvier, 1816	Common genet (G. genetta) (Linnaeus, 1758) Cape genet (G. tigrina) (Schreber, 1778) South African small-spotted genet (G. felina) (Thunberg, 1811) Rusty-spotted genet (G. maculata) (Gray, 1828) Pardine genet (G. pardina) Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832 Abyssinian genet (G. abyssinica) (Rüppell, 1835) King genet (G. poensis) Waterhouse, 1838 Servaline genet (G. servalina) Pucheran, 1855 Angolan genet (G. angolensis) Bocage, 1882 Giant forest genet (G. victoriae) Thomas, 1901 Hausa genet (G. thierryi) Matschie, 1902 Letaba genet (G. letabae) Thomas and Schwann, 1906 Johnston's genet (G. johnstoni) (Pocock, 1908) Aquatic genet (G. piscivora) (Allen, 1919) Crested servaline genet (G. cristata) Hayman, 1940 Schouteden's genet (G. schoutedeni) Crawford-Cabral, 1970 Bourlon's genet (G. bourloni) Gaubert, 2003	File:Genetta genetta felina (Wroclaw zoo).JPG
	Poiana Gray, 1864	Central African oyan (P. richardsonii) (Thomson, 1842) West African oyan (P. leightoni) (Pocock, 1907)	File:Em - Poiana richardsonii 2.jpg

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of Viverridae are shown in the following cladogram:

Extinct species

Subfamily	Genus	Species
Viverrinae	Viverra Linnaeus, 1758	Leakey's civet (V. leakeyi) Leakey, 1982
	Semigenetta Helbing 1927	†S. cadeoti Roman and Viret 1934 †S. elegans Dehm, 1950 †S. grandis Crusafont & Golpe, 1981 †S. laugnacensis De Bonis, 1973 †S. ripolli Petter, 1976 †S. sansaniensis Lartet, 1851
Paradoxurinae	Kichechia Savage, 1965	†K. zamanae †K. savagei
	Tugenictis Morales & Pickford, 2005	†T. ngororaensis Morales & Pickford, 2005
	Kanuites Dehghani & Werdelin, 2008	†K. lewisae Dehghani & Werdelin, 2008
	Siamictis Grohé et al., 2020	†S. carbonensis Grohé et al., 2020

See also

• List of viverrids