| Asiatic linsang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Banded linsang (Prionodon linsang) andspotted linsang (P. pardicolor) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Superfamily: | Feloidea Gray, 1864[2] |
| Family: | Prionodontidae Gray, 1864[2] |
| Genus: | Prionodon Horsfield, 1822[1] |
| Type species | |
| Prionodon gracilis[3] | |
| Species | |
 | |
TheAsiatic linsang (Prionodon) is agenus comprising twospecies native toSoutheast Asia: thebanded linsang (Prionodon linsang) and thespotted linsang (Prionodon pardicolor).[4][5]Prionodon is considered asister taxon of theFelidae.[6]
The coat pattern of the Asiatic linsang is distinct, consisting of large spots that sometimes coalesce into broad bands on the sides of the body; the tail is banded transversely. It is small in size with a head and body length ranging from 36.6 to 42.5 cm (14.4 to 16.75 in) and a 30 to 41 cm (12 to 16 in) long tail. The tail is nearly as long as the head and body, and about five or six times as long as the hind foot. The head is elongated with a narrow muzzle,rhinarium evenly convex above, with wide internarialseptum, shallow infranarial portion, andphiltrum narrow and grooved, the groove extending only about to the level of the lower edge of the nostrils. The delicate skull is long, low, and narrow with a well definedoccipital and a strong crest, but there is no completesagittal crest. The teeth also are more highly specialized, and show an approach to those of Felidae, although more primitive. The dental formula is3.1.4.13.1.4.2. Theincisors form a transverse, not a curved, line; the first three upper and the four lower pre-molars are compressed and trenchant with a high, sharp, mediancusp and small subsidiary cusps in front and behind it. The uppercarnassial has a small inner lobe set far forwards, a small cusp in front of the main compressed, high, pointed cusp, and a compressed, blade-like posterior cusp; the upper molar is triangular, transversely set, much smaller than the upper carnassial, and much wider than it is long, so that the upper carnassial is nearly at the posterior end of the upper cheek-teeth as in Felidae.[4]
| Genus | Image | Species |
|---|---|---|
| Prionodon |  | Banded linsang (P. linsang)Hardwicke, 1821 |
 | Spotted linsang (P. pardicolor)Hodgson, 1842 |
Prionodon was denominated and first described byThomas Horsfield in 1822, based on a linsang fromJava. He had placed the linsang under "sectionPrionodontidae" of the genusFelis, because of similarities to both generaViverra andFelis.[1] In 1864,John Edward Gray placed the generaPrionodon andPoiana in the tribePrionodontina, as part ofViverridae.[2]Reginald Innes Pocock initially followed Gray's classification, but the existence ofscent glands inPoiana induced him provisionally to regard the latter as a specialized form ofGenetta, its likeness toPrionodon being possibly adaptive.[4] Furthermore, the skeletal anatomy of Asiatic linsangs are said to be a mosaic of features of other viverrine-like mammals, as linsangs share cranial, postcranial and dental similarities withfalanoucs,African palm civet, andoyans respectively.[7]
DNA analysis based on 29 species ofCarnivora, comprising 13 species ofViverrinae and three species representingParadoxurus,Paguma andHemigalinae, confirmed Pocock's assumption that the African linsangPoiana represents the sister-group of the genusGenetta. The placement ofPrionodon as the sister-group of the familyFelidae is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in themonogeneric family Prionodontidae.[8] There is a physicalsynapomorphy shared between felids andPrionodon in the presence of the specialized fused sacral vertebrae.[7]
