| African palm civet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A mounted specimen inManchester Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Superfamily: | Nandinioidea |
| Family: | Nandiniidae Pocock, 1929 |
| Genus: | Nandinia Gray, 1843 |
| Species: | N. binotata |
| Binomial name | |
| Nandinia binotata (Gray, 1830) | |
 | |
| African palm civet range | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
Viverra binotataGray 1830 | |
TheAfrican palm civet (Nandinia binotata), also known as thetwo-spotted palm civet, is a smallfeliformmammal widely distributed insub-Saharan Africa. It is listed asleast concern on theIUCN Red List.[1] It is the sole member of thesuperfamily Nandinioidea and the mostgenetically isolatedcarnivoran.
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The African palm civet is grey to dark brown with dark spots on the back. It has short legs, small ears, a lean body, and a long, ringed tail. It has two sets ofscent glands on the lowerabdomen and between the third and fourth toes on each foot, which secrete a strong-smelling substance used to mark territory and in mating. Adult females reach a body length of 37–61 cm (15–24 in) with a 34–70 cm (13–28 in) long tail and weigh 1.2–2.7 kg (2.6–6.0 lb). Adult males reach 39.8–62.5 cm (15.7–24.6 in) in body length with a 43–76.2 cm (16.9–30.0 in) long tail and weigh 1.3–3 kg (2.9–6.6 lb).[3]
The African palm civet'sear canal is not divided andcartilaginous at the end.[4]
The African palm civet ranges throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa fromGuinea toSouth Sudan, south toAngola, and into easternZimbabwe. It has been recorded indeciduous forests, lowlandrainforests,gallery andriverine forests,savanna woodlands, and logged forests up to an elevation of 2,500 m (8,200 ft).[1]
In the 1950s, one individual was wild-caught onBioko Island.[5] However, it was not recorded on the island during subsequent surveys between 1986 and 2015.[6]In Guinea'sNational Park of Upper Niger, it was recorded during surveys conducted in 1996 to 1997.[7]InSenegal, it was observed in 2000 inNiokolo-Koba National Park, which encompasses mainly open habitat dominated bygrasses.[8]InGabon'sMoukalaba-Doudou National Park, it was recorded in forested areas during acamera-trapping survey in 2012.[9] InBatéké Plateau National Park, it was recorded only west of theMpassa River during surveys carried out between June 2014 and May 2015.[10] InLiberianUpper Guinean forests, it was sighted inGbarpolu County andBong County during surveys in 2013.[11]
InZanzibar, it was recorded ingroundwater forest onUnguja Island in 2003.[12]
The African palm civet is anocturnal, largelyarboreal mammal that spends most of the time on large branches, amonglianas in the canopy of trees. Iteats fruits such as those of the African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides),Uapaca,persimmon (Diospyros hoyleana),fig trees (Ficus),papayas (Carica papaya), andbananas (Musa).[13]
Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha (0.13–0.59 sq mi) and females of 29–70 ha (0.11–0.27 sq mi). The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.[13]
In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January.[13] The female usually gives birth after agestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female's mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets' fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females.[citation needed]Itsgeneration length is 7.8 years.[14]
In 1830,John Edward Gray firstdescribed an African palm civet using the nameViverra binotata based on azoological specimen obtained from a museum inLeiden.[15]
In 1843, Gray proposed thegenusNandinia and subordinatedViverra binotata to this genus.[16]
In 1929,Reginald Innes Pocock proposed the familyNandiniidae, with the genusNandinia as sole member. He argued that it differs from theAeluroidea by the structure and shape of its ear canal andmastoid part of the temporal bone.[4]
Results ofmorphological andmolecular genetic analyses indicate that it differs fromviverrids anddiverged from theFeliformia about44.5 million years ago,[17] It is the most genetically isolatedCarnivoran, being the only species within itssuperfamily as a whole.
The phylogenetic relationships of African palm civet is shown in the following cladogram:[17]
| Feliformia |
| ||||||
The African palm civet is threatened byhabitat loss and hunting forbushmeat.[1]In 2006, an estimated more than 4,300 African palm civets are hunted yearly in the Nigerian part and around 3,300 in the Cameroon part of theCross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests.[18]
In Guinea, dead African palm civets were recorded in spring 1997 on bushmeat market in villages located in the vicinity of theNational Park of Upper Niger.[19] Dried heads of African palm civets were found in 2007 at theBohicon andDantokpa Markets in southern Benin, suggesting that they are used as fetish in animalrituals.[20]The attitude of rural people in Ghana towards African palm civets is hostile; they consider them a menace to their food resources and safety of children.[21] In Gabon, it is among the most frequently found small carnivores for sale in bushmeat markets.[22] Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered abiodiversity hotspot. They have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are threatened by commerciallogging andmining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scaleoil palmplantations inconcessions obtained by a foreign company.[11]
