Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractileclaws. They have sixincisors in each jaw andmolars with two tubercular grinders behind in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. The tongue is rough with sharp prickles. A pouch orgland occurs beneath the anus, but there is nocecum.[3] The male'surethral opening is directed backward.[5]
Viverrids are the most primitive of all the families offeliformCarnivora and clearly less specialized than theFelidae. In external characteristics, they are distinguished from the Felidae by the longer muzzle and tuft of facialvibrissae between thelower jaw bones, and by the shorter limbs and the five-toed hind foot with the first digit present. The skull differs by the position of thepostpalatine foramina on themaxilla, almost always well in advance of the maxillopalatinesuture, and usually about the level of the secondpremolar; and by the distinct external division of theauditory bulla into its two elements either by a definite groove or, when rarely this is obliterated, by the depression of thetympanic bone in front of the swollen entotympanic. The typicaldental formula is:3.1.4.23.1.4.2, but the number may be reduced, although never to the same extent as in the Felidae.[4]
Their flesh-shearingcarnassial teeth are relatively undeveloped compared to those of other feliform carnivorans.[6] Most viverrid species have a penis bone (abaculum).[7]
In 1821, Gray defined this family as consisting of the generaViverra,Genetta,Herpestes, andSuricata.[3]Reginald Innes Pocock later redefined the family as containing a great number of highly diversified genera, and being susceptible of division into severalsubfamilies, based mainly on the structure of the feet and of some highly specializedscent glands, derived from the skin, which are present in most of the species and are situated in the region of the external generative organs. He subordinated the subfamiliesHemigalinae,Paradoxurinae,Prionodontinae, andViverrinae to the Viverridae.[4]
In 1833,Edward Turner Bennett described the Malagasyfossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) and subordinated theCryptoprocta to the Viverridae.[8] Amolecular andmorphological analysis based onDNA/DNA hybridization experiments suggests thatCryptoprocta does not belong within Viverridae, but is a member of theEupleridae.[9]
TheAfrican palm civet (Nandinia binotata) resembles the civets of the Viverridae, but is genetically distinct and belongs in its ownmonotypic family, theNandiniidae. There is little dispute that thePoiana species are viverrids.[2]
^abcPocock, R. I. (1939)."Family Viverridae".The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Mammalia. – Volume 1. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 330–332.
^Veron, G.; Catzeflis, F. M. (1993). "Phylogenetic relationships of the endemic Malagasy carnivore Cryptoprocta ferox (Aeluroideae): DNA/DNA hybridization experiments".Journal of Mammalian Evolution.1 (3):169–185.doi:10.1007/bf01024706.S2CID21555307.
^abLinnaeus, C. (1758)."Viverra".Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis 1 (Tenth ed.). Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. pp. 43–45.
^Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, E. (1803)."La Civette de l'Inde".Catalogue des Mammifères du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. p. 113.
^Schreber, J. C. D. (1778)."Die CivetteViverra civetta".Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen. Erlangen: Wolfgang Walther. pp. 418–420.
^Pallas, P. S. (1778)."Das Zwitterstinkthier". In Schreber, J. C. D. (ed.).Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen. Erlangen: Wolfgang Walther. p. 426.
^Pallas, P. S. (1778)."Der Boshond". In Schreber, J. C. D. (ed.).Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen. Erlangen: Wolfgang Walther. p. 451.
^Gray, J. E. (1831)."Paguma".Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London. Vol. 1. London: Zoological Society of London. p. 95.
^Smith, C.H. (1827)."Gulo larvatus, the Masked Glutton". In Griffith, E. (ed.).The animal kingdom : arranged in conformity with its organization. Vol. 2. Mammalia. London: G.B. Whittaker. p. 281.
^Linnaeus, C. (1758)."Viverra genetta".Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis 1 (Tenth ed.). Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. p. 45.
^Schreber, J. C. D. (1778)."Die BisamkazeViverra tigrina".Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Vol. Dritter Theil. Erlangen: Walther. pp. 425–426.
^Gray, J. E. (1828)."Viverra maculata".Spicilegia zoologica : original figures and short systematic descriptions of new and unfigured animals. London: Treuttel, Wurtz & Co. p. 9.
^Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I. (1832)."Descriptions d'une nouvelle espèce du genre Genette. Genetta. Cuv.".Études Zoologiques : Ouvrage comprenant l'histoire et la description d'un grand nombre d'animaux récemment découverts et des observations nouvelles sur plusieurs genres déjà connus. Paris: Lequien Fils. p. 73.
^Rüppell, E. (1835)."Viverra abyssinica. Rüppell".Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig. Frankfurt: Siegmund Schmerber.
^Veron, Geraldine; Bonillo, Céline; Hassanin, Alexandre; Jennings, Andrew (2017). "Molecular systematics and biogeography of the Hemigalinae civets (Mammalia, Carnivora)".European Journal of Taxonomy.285:1–20.doi:10.5852/ejt.2017.285.
^abDehghani, R. & Werdelin, L. (2008). "A new small carnivoran from the Middle Miocene of Fort Ternan, Kenya".Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen.248 (2):233–244.doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0248-0233.
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