Asian palm civet
| Asian Palm Civet[1] | |
|---|---|
| |
| juvenile | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | P. hermaphroditus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Pallas, 1777)
| |
The Asian Palm Civet, is a cat-sized mammal in the family Viverridae native to South-east Asia South India and southern China. It may also be known as the Common Palm Civet, Toddy Cat, Motit, Marapatti, Uguduwa, or Maranai
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 Sinhala, and as Maranai in Tamil (the latter has same meaning as the Malayalam name above).
Physiology
Size and markings
The Asian Palm Civet averages 3.2 kg (7.1 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 civet species.
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.[3] It also has a fondness for palm flower sap (a habit which earns it one of its alternate names the 'toddy cat') which, when fermented, becomes toddy, a sweet liquor. It plays a role in the germination of the Pinanga kuhlii and P. zavana palm tree.[4] 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.
Behavior
Asian Palm Civets perform scent marking using anal glands, urine, and feces. The most common marking behavior is dragging the anal glands on a surface to leave a scent. They are able to identify animal species, sex, and whether the individual who left the scent is known or unknown by smelling an anal scent secretion.[5]
Palm Civets are exclusively nocturnal, usually active between 6:00 pm and 4:00 am, being less active on nights when the moon is brightest.[3]
Dispersion
It is found in southern India, Sri Lanka, South-east Asia and southern China.
Interactions with humans
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.[6]
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.
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.[7] However, a paper by Daniel Janies et al. (February 2008) published by 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.[8]
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
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 551. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Template:IUCN2008 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ a b Joshi, Anup R. (Nov., 1995). "Influence of Food Distribution and Predation Pressure on Spacing Behavior in Palm Civets". Journal of Mammalogy. 76 (4). American Society of Mammalogists: 1205–1212.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Thohari, M. (9–11 May 1984). "A preliminary study on the role of civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) in the natural regeneration of palms (Pinanga kuhlii and P. zavana) at Gunung Gede-Pangrango National Park, West Java (Indonesia)". Symposium on Forest Regeneration in Southeast Asia. Bogor (Indonesia).
{{cite conference}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|booktitle=ignored (|book-title=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ Rozhnov, V. V. (November, 2003). "Roles of Different Types of Excretions in Mediated Communication by Scent Marks of the Common Palm Civet, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Pallas, 1777 (Mammalia, Carnivora)". Biology Bulletin. 30 (6). MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica: 584–590. doi:10.1023/B:BIBU.0000007715.24555.ed. ISSN 1062-3590.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ 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
External links
