Talk:Meerkat

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Domestication

Just wondering whether it's possible to domesticate? Jack 21:33, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Can we include a link to this page? http://petmeerkats.com/ There are lots of meerkat programmes coming out at the moment so it would be good to have a link disuading people on the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eddowding (talk • contribs) 11:09, 19 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is possible, but not recomended. As far as i know there are very few people actually succeeded in "taming" the meerkat, but these animals retain their wild instincts and even the -so called- tamest of meerkats will still bite, scratch and fight with both people and similar sized animals (cats ect). Tekana (O.o) Talk 18:03, 13 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Just adding on to what Tekana said, since Meerkats are territorial and mob oriented, they will attack anything they see as an outsider. So even if you gain their trust, they will still attack anything that gets near you because they percieve it as a threat to their alpha (which would be you) --67.35.192.52 03:08, 25 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I Botany44 would like to add to the artical-General information: Meerkats are small mammals who are most closely related to the mongooses. They are colonial animals, so they are very social within their own group. Behaviors that make this evident are that they will share food, and groom, snuggle and lick each other often, as well as before settling down to sleep in a large pile similar to canine puppies. Meerkats form groups in order to survive. Being such small animals, they are very susceptible to larger predators. However, when they are part of a larger group, there is a division of labor, a sharing of resources, and greater strength in numbers. Meerkats perform specific roles, hence the division of labor. The members of the group specialize in one of these specific roles, such as guard duty, babysitting the young, foraging, and sharing food. Even though each member has his or her own job, the meerkats are relieved of their duties by others so that they can eat. Each takes a turn at babysitting and guard duty for short periods of time. These duties are exhausting, and the willingness to share the labor displays the cohesion of the group.

As seen by their sleeping arrangements, the meerkats are a closely knit group. This closeness is evident in the daytime as well. During the day, the meerkats forage for food out in the open savannah. This could be dangerous, but each member of the group takes a turn at guard duty by pausing briefly to stand erect and scan the skies for pedators. At other times, one of the meerkats who has specialized in guard duty will perch as high as 12 feet on a branch to watch the skies. His constant peeping lets the group know that the skies are clear.

When one guard is relieved by the other, he is very hungry. This is due to the fact that meerkats are used to eating every few minutes. At each step they paw and sniff the ground until they smell food. They then begin a digging frenzy, sending the sand flying, until they capture the prey. They can move their own weight in sand in a matter of seconds, which is important when their dinner is running away.

The sand also flies when the meerkats use their specialized claws to dig burrows. These burrows are extensive passages that can cover many underground miles. They are used for sleeping, escaping from predators and the hot sun, and raising their kits to maturity.

Although meerkats are very social within their own group, they are very intent upon driving away intruders. They will either group together when threatened to form what appears to be a giant, hissing animal, or they will fiercely drive another group of meerkats out of their territory. This second behavior is done by performing a type off "war dance" that consists of each meerkat jumping higher and higher in the air and jeering loudly. They progressively move forward, then suddenly stop and start vigorously pawing the ground. This action causes what looks like smoke signals to rise into the air. The war dance and smoke signals are the meerkat's way of intimidating outsiders by making themselves appear stronger and more numerous. Special anatomical, physiological or behavioral adaptations: Meerkats have developed an immunity to scorpion stings that can paralyze a grown man or kill a small child. They also have black patches of fur around their eyes that function as a sort of built in pair of sunglasses. The meerkats live in groups instead of singly. This provides a better chance for survival due to the greater protection of the group, a sharing of resources, and a division of labor. One particular job a meerkat can do is to teach the young how to hunt. This is accomplished by the meerkat running around the kits with a tasty insect in her mouth and trying to get the kits to take it away from her.

Another behavioral adaptation related to group survival is banding together to form what appears to be a giant, hissing animal, as was mentioned previously. This is achieved by grouping tightly together, fluffing up their fur, and surging forward with their teeth bared and tails held high. Research biologist David W. Macdonald of Oxford University reported seeing this behavior. The meerkats drove off a much larger jackal and a bat-eared fox who had invaded their territory in this manner.

Personal observations: When the Meerkat Mounds exhibit first opened up in 1997, there were many babies among the population. The babies are extremely small and cute. They are also watched very closely by the adult meerkats. Even in the somewhat safe environment of the zoo, the adults are constantly raising up on their hind legs to keep watch for predators. However, now that the babies are grown, the meerkats seem to be more relaxed. There is one definite guard, and the rest of the group seems relatively unconcerned with the zoo patrons. They eat, play, and sun themselves without a worry. When the meerkats are not busy eating, playing, and warming themselves in the sun, they enjoy watching the zoo patrons. They are very curious and will focus on one particular person, who they will seem to "study".5/20/08 9:43pm

Litter count

It the reproduction part of the article, it says they have on average 3 per litter. Then in same paragraph it says the most common number per litter is 4. I know that an average and a mean can be different... but is this right? Fepple 15:19, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's no contradiction here. The article states that a litter size can be "1 to 5" and that "the most common number" is 4. The range of web comics a single person has made can be anywhere from, say, 0 to 503 but I would bet dollars to donuts that "the most common number" is 0. Also, an average and a mean are the same thing; a mean and a median are different. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.67.232.74 (talk) 15:51, 16 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Scientific classification

Isnt it Suricata and not Suricatta? -- 82.42.81.88 18:20, 8 February 2006

It's suricata suricatta [1]; suricata is the genus, suricatta is the species. They are also known as suricates. --Kevin L'Huillier 03:30, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Colony size

The German page states 30 animals in a colony the English 40 animals. What's true now? Sancassania 17.7.2006 GMT

The Whiskers, stars of Meerkat Manor, reached 40 during the season 1-season 2 gap, but reduced in number then to only 38 now.The people that filmed the show, were probably very good people. Cruise meerkat 18:27, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Meerkats teach

if anybody stumbles upon this comment and has the will/time, it was recently discovered that meerkats are among the very few species that "teach." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060713-meerkats.html i'm sure the link will be dead before too long so http://www.google.com/search?q=meerkats+teach Dreamer.redeemer 01:57, 3 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I added a quick paragraph to the article. Others should supplement and copyedit what i wrote. --Kevin L'Huillier 03:44, 3 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The name

It is stated that the word was loaned from Dutch but that is probably not correct. The word meerkat means guenon in Dutch and may have its origins in Sanskrit markata monkey. It probably came mean something else (a mongoose species) in cape Dutch => Afrikaans by misidentification. The English loan is Dutch.

nl:Gebruiker:Sokpopje

Removed not relevant nonsense. Genegaines 21:04, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are known by a confusing array of common names: suricates, slender tailed or grey meerkats and stokstertjies (Afrikaans for 'stick-tail'). In fact, the name 'meerkat' derives from the Afrikaans for marsh cat, [...]" [MacDonald & Dennis 1999: page 8] --Scharrtier 18:30, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

MacDonald, D. & Dennis, N. (1999): Meerkats. London: New Holland.

Eating habits

There seems to be a bit of a contradiction: Under "Anatomy", the articles states: "and eat scorpions (including the stinger)", under "Behavior" it states: "Meerkat adults educate children how to eat a venomous scorpion. They will remove the stinger and help the pup learn how to handle the creature." So, do they eat the stinger or not? 82.135.12.17anon

Most of the time they don't eat the stinger, but once in a while they might. Cruise meerkat 18:28, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Helpers typically kill or disable prey with rapid bites to the head or abdomen before provisioning pups. Scorpions are normally disabled by removing the sting" [Thornton & McAuliffe 2006: page 227]--Scharrtier 18:45, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thornton, A. & McAuliffe, K. (2006): Teaching in wild meerkats. In: Science, Volume 313, S. 227-229

Rabies

According to http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Suricata_suricatta.html meerkat are significant carriers of rabies. There is also a vaccine which can be used. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sittingduck123 (talk • contribs) 14:17, 2 March 2007 (UTC).[reply]

The advert with 4 meerkats on

The advertisement poster [2] with the meerkats, and variations of it, is familiar in England on posters, not only on the WWW, and is here as an example of the popular image of meerkats. I have no connection with the firm, it is not spam. Anthony Appleyard 05:07, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that this link should NOT be included in an encyclopedia. It is inappropriate, makes the project seem cheap and has no place on Wikipedia, no matter how familiar it is in England. Abbott75 05:11, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How is that inappropiate? Cruise meerkat 18:28, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name Meaning

It says meerkats and guenons are not attracted to lakes. Don't know about guenons, but the "lake" in its name may refer to how meerkats bathe sometimes when they find standing water. Cruise meerkat 18:31, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

puppies

I think there should be a section about meerkat pup's including an image or 2 as there to show what the cutie's look like Richardson j 00:39, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

puppies

If there were to be a section on meerkat pups, then it should feature specific facts about them; like irregular health problems, or certain behaviors. A section with just images would not be informative. --DavidD4scnrt (talk) 06:47, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Photos

Here are a couple of photos I took at the San Diego Zoo last month. I thought they might be interesting as they show some of the meerkat's social behavior and their pups. Use them (or don't) as you see fit. -- mattb 04:07, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I also had a photo of a meerkat that I took showing one that is in a bush with small branches, have not seen one like that on the commons so I uploaded it. -- VVHeavyVv (talk) 23:23, 24 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Scientific name needs a little clarification.

Currently we have:

" The scientific name suricate comes from the Swahili language and it means "rock-cat".This is only a meerkat cat becuase it eats poop like crazy "

That needs a rewrite/typo correction in any case.

Is the Swahili suricate or suricata? Suricata the original or a Latinization?

And what is the explanation for the two TT's (if accurate) in Suricata suricatta ?

And BTW what is a Swahili name doing in south-western (rather than East) Africa? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.204.182.18 (talk) 11:48, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The name does not come not come from Swahili, that is nonsense. "Rock" in Swahili is mwamba or jiwe, but nothing like "suri"; a "cat" is paka. Besides: there are no suricata in the Swahili-speaking countries. The "cata/catta" is definitely a European root and I think that a Latin etymology is sensible. The wiktionary entries give "Latin: Syria + cat". I just wonder about Syria so there is probably a story to go with this name choice. (I just changed the entry for suricata back, a user had entered the Swahili explanation -from this wikipedia article?- after I posed the question on the talk page why it is called "Syrian". --Kipala (talk) 18:21, 2 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

NB: This Russian dictionary claims etymology from a native Name from South Africa. In that case it could be some Africaans (because of "cate") alternative to meerkat. But then the descriptions give as an alternative name "Yellow mongoose" which is, however, also described as a different animal. Same from this Russian dictionary for a scientific former name "Cynictis penicillata" (http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/cide/172439) and two different scientific authorities, either Johann Christian von Schreber or Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest. --Kipala (talk) 19:03, 2 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Alpha pair

I think more details are needed about what the status and behaviour of the Alpha pair are. For example, do only the Alpha's breed, or are all members of a meerkat gang allowed to do so? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Doug1984 (talk • contribs) 14:37, 10 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All members are able to breed, and often do, but the dominant female will often evict other pregnant females in the few weeks before her pups are to give her own pups a better chance of survival. If her pups are the only ones, there's a higher helper-to-pup ratio, not to mention the fact that evicting other females minimises the chance of them comitting infanticide to give their own pups a better chance of eventually becoming dominant.

As for the males, pretty much all of them often go roving which means that not all pups have to be fathered by the alpha. Lowri (talk) 11:59, 31 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Meerkats and prairie dogs

Meerkats and prairie dogs seem to have very similar behavior. Can anyone who knows more about these two species, please add a section about the similarities to the meerkat and prairie dog pages. I think a section like that will be really interesting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.66.187.172 (talk) 17:46, 14 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Link to Earthwatch

Is it possible to add this link? * Earthwatch.org recruits volunteers to help with meerkat research. Thank you. MaryatEarthwatch (talk) 19:36, 21 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi MaryatEarthwatch. Thank you for asking first, instead of adding the link. Your proposed link is giving details for an expedition, and is not directly giving information about Meerkats in general - the guidelines for links are here: WP:EL. Wikipedia should be more about content rather then external links, so you want you could expand Earthwatch and give an overview of the wildlife conservation projects - that article needs expansion anyway :) Rror (talk) 22:38, 21 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Semiprotection review

04:55, 3 May 2008 Anthony Appleyard protected Meerkat ‎ (11 vandalisms by anonymous users in the last fortnight [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed])
That was nearly 18 months ago. I'd like to review that to see if semiprotection is still considered necessary. As well as welcoming opinions from regular editors I've contacted Anthony Appleyard, the protecting admin. --TS 17:22, 23 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
OK, I have unprotected it. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 20:35, 23 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Compare the meerkat/comparethemarket.com

This is a very famous UK commercial featuring meerkats, it should be on this site.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.100.217.82 (talk) 22:04, 29 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. I think there should be a short section named something like "Cultural depictions" near the end, briefly describing the commercial, the Meerkat Manor TV programme and the Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins. What do others think?--A bit iffy (talk) 19:49, 18 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

EDITING OF ARTICLE FACILITY??

I'm wondering why there is no access to edit the article on 'Meerkats'?? In one of the opening paragraphs for instance, it states that meerkats have black patches around their eyes "to deflect the sun", but it is known fact that black does not deflect/reflect, but 'absorbs' - white reflects the sun.