Asian Palm Civet
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| Asian Palm Civet[1] | ||||||||||||||
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| Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Pallas, 1777) |
The Asian Palm Civet, is a cat-sized mammal in the family Viverridae native to South-east Asia and southern China.
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[edit] Name
The species' scientific name (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), was given in 1777 because both sexes have scent glands underneath the tail that resemble testicles. Civets spray a noxious secretion from these glands.
The species is also commonly known as the Common Palm Civet or the Toddy Cat.
In the Gran Cordillera Central mountain range of northern Philippines, it is called Motit.
In the indigenous language of Malayalam in the state of Kerala in southern India, the Asian Palm Civet is known as a Marapatti or "മരപ്പട്ടി" (which translates as 'Tree-dog' or 'wood-dog'.)
In Sri Lanka, the palm civet is known as Uguduwa in Sinhaha and as Maranai in Tamil.
[edit] Physiology
[edit] Size and markings
The Asian Palm Civet averages 3.2 kg (7 lb), has a body length of 53 cm (21 in) and a tail length of 48 cm (19 in). Its long, stocky body is covered with coarse, shaggy hair that is usually greyish in color, with black on its feet, ears and muzzle. It has three rows of black markings on its body. The markings on its face resemble a raccoon's. Its tail does not have rings, unlike similar palm civet species.
[edit] Feeding and diet
The Asian Palm Civet is a nocturnal omnivore. Ecologically, they are frequently compared to as filling a similar niche in Asia that the Common Raccoon fills in North America. Its primary food source is fruit such as chiku, mango, rambutan and coffee. It will also eat small mammals and insects. It also has a fondness for palm flower sap which, when fermented, becomes toddy, a sweet liquor (habit which earns one of its alternate names the 'toddy cat'). It inhabits forests, parks and suburban gardens with mature fruit trees, fig trees and undisturbed vegetation. Its sharp claws allow it to climb trees and house gutters.
In most parts of Sri Lanka, civets are considered a nuisance since they litter in ceilings and attics of common households, and make loud noises fighting and moving about at night, disturbing the sleep of the householders.
[edit] Dispersion
It is found in southern India, Sri Lanka, South-east Asia and southern China.
[edit] Interactions with Humans
[edit] Oil extract
The oil extracted from small pieces of the meat kept in linseed oil in a closed earthen pot and regularly sunned is used indigenously as a cure for scabies.[3]
[edit] Coffee
Kopi Luwak is coffee that is prepared using coffee cherries that have been eaten by the animal, partially digested, and harvested from its feces.
Motit Coffee is coffee prepared from coffee beans harvested from the faeces of the Motit (Philippine Civet). Prices for this delicacy in 2009 ranged from USD$300 in the Philippines, to USD$1400 in the US, per pound weight clean.
[edit] SARS
The SARS virus was thought to have entered the human population from masked palm civets captured in the wild and improperly prepared for human consumption.[4] However, a paper by Daniel Janies, et al. (February 2008) of the journal "Cladistics", uses evidence from the sequences of many SARS genomes to show that the civets' cases of SARS were just one part of the family tree of SARS viruses in humans – probably humans got SARS from bats, then humans gave it to pigs once and to small civets once, and then these small carnivores may have given the disease back to humans once or twice. All the cases of SARS associated with the outbreak appeared to be part of the bat branch of the coronavirus phylogeny.[5]
[edit] Subspecies
There are a significant number of subspecies of this civet:[1]
- P. h. balicus
- P. h. bondar
- P. h. canescens
- P. h. canus
- P. h. cochinensis
- P. h. dongfangensis
- P. h. enganus
- P. h. exitus
- P. h. hermaphroditus
- P. h. javanica
- P. h. kangeanus
- P. h. laotum
- P. h. lignicolor
- P. h. milleri
- P. h. minor
- P. h. musanga
- P. h. nictitans
- P. h. pallasii
- P. h. pallens
- P. h. parvus
- P. h. philippinensis
- P. h. pugnax
- P. h. pulcher
- P. h. sacer
- P. h. scindiae
- P. h. senex
- P. h. setosus
- P. h. simplex
- P. h. sumbanus
- P. h. vellerosus
[edit] Gallery
[edit] References
- ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds). ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 551. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- ^ Duckworth, J.W., Widmann P., Custodio, C., Gonzalez, J.C., Jennings, A. & Veron, G. (2008). Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2008. Retrieved on 23 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Singh, L. A. K. (1982). "Stomach Contents of a Common Palm Civet, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Pallas)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 79 (2): 403–404.
- ^ Palm Civets (Paguma larvata) and SARS
- ^ Evolutionary History of SARS Supports Bats As Virus Source
[edit] External links
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